Microsoft® Office on FreeBSD 5.3 or later
There is a updated guide on how to install Office 2000 on freeBSD 7 here.
Introduction
One day while searching for Microsoft® Office on FreeBSD to see if others had successfully got Office to install and run on FreeBSD I came across this rather nice report on how it was successfully done via a Linux install. After reading the report I knew that Wine on FreeBSD was capable of running the main Office 2000 applications, but if the install was documented and simplified this should make it even easier for people to use Office 2000 on FreeBSD.
My report here will describe how I used CrossOver Office to facilitate in the install. And how it is possible to get Office 2000 to perform to a acceptable degree of stability under FreeBSD.
It will also describe how it's currently possible to move a Office XP or Office 2003 install from Linux to FreeBSD and have minimal usage at this time. While this report is in NO way the optimal way to run Office on FreeBSD as it implies that a FreeBSD user should also have a working Linux system in place. It will however show that if there is adequate interest from the FreeBSD community maybe one day soon CrossOver will be ported to FreeBSD as many of there currently supported application will run on FreeBSD at this time, albeit not as stable as on a Linux.
Required Software
A correctly configured and working Linux install.
CrossOver Office for Linux version 5.0 or later.
FreeBSD 5.3 or later (anyone care to test this on NetBSD, OpenBSD, or one of the other BSD distro's?)
Wine 20050930 from : Wine 20050930
Office 2000
Once CrossOver is installed on the Linux box you will want to perform a fake install on a program. To do this select to install a Unsupported application and choose a Windows 98 bottle. As soon as the test application ask you if you want to install it cancel the install. The reason for doing this is so CrossOver will build the necessary generic.ppd and registry files in the newly created bottle.
The next step is to tar.gz up the generic.ppd and registry files and transfer them to your FreeBSD box.
Here is a step by step install of Office 2000 on FreeBSD with the help of the registry files from CrossOver, everything from here on is on the BSD box.
1) Create a new .wine $ wine notepad (if you already have a wine installed back up your original .wine)
2) Copy the registry files from CrossOver into .wine (you may want to back up the original registry files as well)
3) Create symlinks to your CD-Rom and home directory in dosdevices, name the cd symlink m: and home symlink y:
4) mount your office 2000 installation CD
5) cd to your cdrom and run $wine setup.exe
6) I receive a error "Installing this product requires the Windows installer. An error occurred when installing or upgrading the Windows installer. (Click OK)
7) Hit your Pg Up key and run $ wine setup.exe again
8) The install should now start, there will be a error "The split of the Windows Desktop Update from the IE browser has been completed..etc.. (Click OK)
9) You should now be at the Customer Information section, enter your name and product key ->
10) Licence and support, EULA... ->
11) Ready to install section, choose Customize ->
12) Installation Location, choose the default location C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\ ->
13) Updating Windows section, choose Windows Web Browsing Component Only ->
14) Selecting Features, I choose to have everything run from my computer. left click in front of Microsoft Office and choose "run all from my computer" there is no box visible for the selection. Select in a region where the box SHOULD be, but is not. Install Now ->
15) At about 80% into the install I receive a message again about "The split of the Windows Desktop Update from the IE browser has been completed..etc.. (Click OK)
16) After the first part of the install is complete you will be asked if you want to restart your system. Choose Yes.
17) When the second stage of the install starts you will receive a error "Error 1911. Could not register type library for file C:\Windows\System\WEN2232.OLB." Choose Ignore
18) The install should finish with out any other errors, when the install is complete you can umount your cdrom.
19) cd to .wine/drive_c/Program Files/Microsoft Office/Office
20) Run $ wine winword.exe
21) When Word starts it will ask if you want to register with Microsoft, that's up to you....
22) You can run Word (winword.exe) Excel (excel.exe) or PowerPoint (powerpnt.exe) IE, Outlook and Access will not work with this configuration.
ScreenShots of Word 2000, Excel 2000, PowerPoint 2000 running on FreeBSD
Word 2000
Description: Long the application of choice for creating and printed documents, Microsoft® Word 2000 is tuned for cyberspace as well.In addition to sporting new and improved tools that simplify traditional word-processing tasks, Word 2000 adds an expanded menu of Web-related capabilities-along with Microsoft Office E-Mail integration.
Home Page: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx
Excel 2000
Description: Microsoft® Excel 2000 and its streamlined spreadsheet creation tools, enhanced analysis tools, and powerful Web integration. Whether you are an expert or a novice, Excel will help you work more efficiently, turning your data into answers you can count on. Excel 2000 provides comprehensive tools to help you create, analyze, and share spreadsheets. Create rich spreadsheets more easily than ever using enhanced formatting features. Analyze your data with charts, PivotTable dynamic views, and graphs. And post your results to the Web for universal viewing and collaboration. The process of publishing an entire Excel spreadsheet or a subset to the Web has been simplified. Excel 2000 also makes it possible to save spreadsheet data and charts as interactive Web pages. A new interface lets users create and manipulate the fields of a PivotTable view directly in an Excel worksheet by dragging the fields they want directly onto a PivotTable.
Home Page: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx
PowerPoint 2000
Description: Microsoft® PowerPoint 2000 makes it easier to organize, illustrate, and deliver your ideas professionally. Whether you're conducting a meeting, presenting at a conference, or delivering your message over the Internet, the Microsoft® PowerPoint 2000 presentation graphics program provides the tools you need to make your point - powerfully.
Home Page: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx
Next section Office XP
Please consider purchasing CrossOver Office or Games for Linux or Mac today!...........