{"id":568,"date":"2010-05-11T20:00:23","date_gmt":"2010-05-12T00:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/?p=568"},"modified":"2018-10-22T12:30:45","modified_gmt":"2018-10-22T16:30:45","slug":"oracles-virtualbox-on-ubuntu-10-04-to-run-windows-xp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/2010\/05\/11\/oracles-virtualbox-on-ubuntu-10-04-to-run-windows-xp\/","title":{"rendered":"Oracle’s VirtualBox on Ubuntu 10.04, to run Windows applications"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/abbr>\n

Today I spend just a few hours with Oracle’s VirtualBox, and was able to install a copy of Windows XP, and Microsoft Office 2007, on a Dell XPS 1530 running Ubuntu 10.04. The manual for the Virtualbox<\/a> is 302 pages, but I was able to do the installation without reading the manual, and everything worked as I expected it to. <\/p>\n

My reason for doing this was to have access from time to time to programs that do not run in Ubuntu. While I love working with Linux, and encourage other to move to Linux platforms, there are times when it is useful to run Windows programs. <\/p>\n

The incompatibility of document formats continues, as ever, to be a challenge for those who collaborate with others. Microsoft’s entire dominance in the word processing field is based upon the lack of workable open standards in document formats. I support the Open Document Format (ODF), and was distressed by Oracle’s recent decision to charge $90 for the Sun ODF plug-in for office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because I often try to work on documents with people who only use Microsoft Office, and Open Office documents saved as .doc files sometimes look strange when viewed in Microsoft Word, I wanted to be able fix formatting issues in Word. (This is not the world I want to live in, but it is the world I do live in).<\/em><\/p>\n

I downloaded a free binary copy of Oracle’s VirtualBox, for Ubuntu 10.04. The software installed in Ubuntu without a hitch. I then connected my laptop to an external CD drive, and from the Virtual Box, created a 10 gig virtual drive, with a copy of Windows XP. I had an extra serial number from a copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007. I then downloaded a copy of the software from www.getmicrosoftoffice.com<\/a>, and it installed without any problems at all, in the virtual box. I didn’t have to edit any configuration files or download any drivers. It just worked. <\/p>\n

I was able to change the screen resolution in the window where Windows runs. It is not as fast as a native installation, but it is fast enough on this machine to work with a document and fix formating issues. It is certainly much more robust in terms of installations that Wine is for now.<\/p>\n

I might also try adding a copy of Turbotax, or some other applications that do not yet run on Linux. <\/p>\n

Update<\/strong>
\nI was able to install the Windows Genuine Advantage<\/strong> software, and things still worked fine. So far the only program I have had trouble with is Apple’s iTunes, which crashes. Apple’s Safari browser and Quicktime work fine, however.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I spend just a few hours with Oracle’s VirtualBox, and was able to install a copy of Windows XP, and Microsoft Office 2007, on a Dell XPS 1530 running Ubuntu 10.04. The manual for the Virtualbox is 302 pages, but I was able to do the installation without reading the manual, and everything worked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516,"href":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568\/revisions\/1516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamie.workingagenda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}