[Wine] Run Office 2007 without reinstalling

[L. Rahyen]

On 2010-05-08 (May, Saturday) 20:27:00 zazou wrote:
> I am running Ubuntu (Karmic) on my computer which dual-boots into Windows
>  (the netbook XP look-alike). Before I installed Linux, I installed OneNote
>  in Windows, and it still works when I boot into Windows. Is there a way to
>  open OneNote without reinstalling it under Linux? (Reinstalling it would
>  require a new activation code, and those are expensive!  [Laughing]

	The only correct way to run it in Wine is to install it. And if you are 
allowed by license to run it from another or new installation of Windows on the 
*same* computer you are allowed to install it in Wine also unless this is 
specifically prohibited by the license agreement.

	BTW, by trying to bypass activation you are breaking your license agreement 
since you are intentionally trying to bypass activation of the software 
("crack" the software). In some countries it may be legal to bypass normal 
activation if you own a legal copy (I don't have a list of such countries and 
I'm not a lawyer); in rest of the world "cracking" any software is illegal even 
if you own a legal copy (or copies).

	If you are *really* required to pay for each installation of the software 
after (for example) reinstalling Windows on the same computer - and therefore 
in Wine (which is imperfect imitation of new clean installation of Windows on 
the same computer to any application) - that's an "interesting" way to rip off 
customers. I recommend you to reread the license agreement to be sure or ask 
technical support can you install the software in new installation of Windows 
on the same computer without paying anything (since you already paid for the 
software) - if yes then you can do it in Wine also (if this is not specifically 
prohibited by the license agreement).

	You can read about current support of Office 2007 in Wine in the AppDB: 
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=4992 .

> I ask because I've noticed that some other .exe files (like Notepad or
>  No$gba) can be executed directly when I'm navigating in Nautilus.

	As I said, running anything from Windows partition is wrong. But there are 
exceptions: applications that either do not use registry at all or can recreate 
their minimal set of registry entries without installer(s).

> However, when I click on the ONENOTE.EXE icon, nothing happens.

	Legal things aside, are you sure it would run in new installation of Windows 
without asking activation code and without exiting with error(s) (because of 
missing registry entries) if you just copy its files or access them via network? 
If not, you shouldn't expect it to work without installation in Wine.

	You can read about (almost) current support of OneNote in Wine in the 
AppDB: http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=12899 . As 
you can see OneNote works in Wine but there are some bugs.