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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

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Winapps for work stuff (lemm.ee)

submitted 3 days ago by blind3rdeye@lemm.ee to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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tl;dr : Does Office 365 work well on Linux via winapps?

longer version:

At my work, I'm currently using my own (Windows) laptop. But its getting a bit long in the tooth, and my tolerance of Windows continues to drop... So I'm considering my options.

One option is to buy myself a new laptop and use Linux. The main barrier to this is that I use Office 365 stuff a lot for work. (Specifically: Word, Excel, and OneNote).

In my brief look around, my impression is that the only reliable way to get those products running on Linux is using winapps; which, as I understand it, basically runs the apps in a virtual machine but tries to make them look like they are running on the host OS.

(The alternative option is that my work will lend a Windows laptop to me indefinitely. But I generally like my stuff to be my own, and I don't like to create waste by accepting cheap and crap laptops with short life-spans.)

I'm writing here to ask if anyone has any experience using winapps. Does it work reliably? Is it easy to open and save files without any weirdness? Will I be able to use a stylus to write notes in OneNote?

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[–] daytonah@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

I have a 10 years+ of this experience.... There are a few things, you can DM me if you want to go in details. Here is a list in no particular order.

1.My host machine is always been system76 or tuxedo computers and OSs have been Ubuntu, Manjaro, pop os, Debian And a fee others. deb based have worked very well for me.. .

I have a VM that is setup as a work machine of Windows 11.
My 2nd client is a control freak so they sent me a laptop which is sitting permanently in my closet connected to a raspberry pi with a hat. Its basically a KVM over IP. My machine /phone/tablet is part of my private virtual home network so I can jump into that machine with any of those devices with just a browser.
From your Linux host machine dedicate one browser altogether to office e.g. if you use Firefox dedicate a Chromium to that office. Bonus points if that browser is in a docker :) then you have no cookie mixing and is a cleaner setup. From this dedicated browser use "login. Microsoft. Com" without spaces ofc, and can use all apps (if the admin has allowed it from your comoany) and there is no hyper overkill intune or other Mac address / machine name related shenanigans setup by your company admin.

In my story, it started before 2010, I tried the Linux (Ubuntu) host and wine based office apps and that was slower than (and had issues other than slowness, I sometimes have 200mb+ of excel files with is text only CSV before I convert them into something sensible) and VM based workflow was faster and more stable. TBH I didn't delve into wine based apps since then because the work/clients logging also get machine info. Etc.... In a VM I can control most of it and in a kvm over ip, it's completely stealth. You can connect a Macbook pro m3 for the heck of it on that KVM setup and no one would have any idea (apart from hardware name of monitor and keyboard mouse names, which you can go extra mile and change if you really want to).... (FYI I am not an IT person so apologise in advance for the above if this is an overkill, this tipic is dear to my heart and is a hobby so to speak, so happy to help if you DM me)