About Us
Products
Services
Compatibility
Partners
Support
Store		 Login View Cart
Chapter 1. Introduction
Prev     Next

Chapter 1. Introduction

CrossOver Office Server Edition makes it possible to use Windows applications on a wide range of platforms, including Solaris Sparc systems. To do so, CrossOver Office Server Edition is split into two software packages: a server and a client.

The server package runs on Linux x86 systems and is responsible for the installation, execution and management of Windows applications. Then the client provides users with a simple and consistent interface for using the Windows applications from various platforms.

One benefit is that the client machines do not have to install or run any Windows software - you install once on the server, and then all the clients simply inherit the ability to run that software with no further action.

CrossOver Linux Server allows you to install your favorite Windows office applications in Linux. In particular CrossOver Linux Server supports Microsoft Office 97, 2000, XP and 2003 which includes Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. CrossOver Linux Server also supports Microsoft Visio, Lotus Notes, Adobe Photoshop, and several other packages.

CrossOver Linux Server delivers a complete web browsing experience by making the full range of Windows Web Browser Plugins available on Linux. Plugins are programs that extend the capabilities of a browser or email client -- for example, to play movies or view Word documents.

CrossOver works by running the actual Windows applications. Because no CPU emulation is involved they run at full speed on your system. They also integrate with your mail client and desktop environment, making it possible to view Word, Excel or PowerPoint attachments, or to open these file types from the KDE or Gnome desktop or file managers. CrossOver Linux Server further acts as a bridge between the native browser (e.g. Mozilla) and Windows plugins (e.g. QuickTime) so that you can use them in your favorite browser.

[Important]

This version of CrossOver Linux Server includes support for multiple bottles. A bottle is a virtual Windows environment with its own isolated C: drive, fonts, registry, and software.

Bottles are especially useful when installing unsupported software or when testing the behavior of a new application. They can also be used to run different versions of the same program (Internet Explorer, for example) at the same time.

Many users will be perfectly happy using only a single, default bottle. Additional bottles are useful anytime there is a risk of adverse interaction between two applications, or whenever an application requires unique system settings to operate properly. CrossOver Linux Server's interface allows you to manage and configure your bottles easily and quickly.

CrossOver Linux Server is easy to install, and requires a small footprint on the system. Its minimum requirements are as follows:

  • An x86 based Linux distribution based on glibc 2.3 or greater

  • Perl 5 or greater

  • IJG JPEG library (libjpeg)

  • It is also recommended that you have a web browser installed. For the plugin functionality, we recommend:

    • Netscape 4.7x or greater

    • Netscape 6.1 or greater

    • Mozilla 1.2 or greater

    • Galeon or SkipStone based on Mozilla 1.2 or greater

    • Konqueror 2.2.2 or greater

    • Opera 5.05 or greater

  • 40MB of available disk space (plus space for the Windows applications)

  • 64MB of RAM

Because the Windows software installs and runs on the server, the memory and disk space requirements for the client are minimal. For the client system, you will need:

  • An x86 system running Linux based on glibc 2.2 or greater, or a Sparc-based system running Solaris 8 or Solaris 9

  • An X server. XRender support is recommended

  • 3MB of available disk space

  • Ssh (OpenSSH version 3 or higher recommended)

  • A network route between the client and server machine that permits Ssh traffic. (Connections slower than 1 Mbps may provide poor performance.)

  • It is also recommended to have a web browser installed

For each user on the client system, you will need:

  • About 1MB of available RAM

  • The ability for that user to log into the server machine using an identical login name. This may be accomplished using duplicate accounts or NIS.

Prev     Next
CrossOver Linux Server Users Guide  Home  Chapter 2. Installing CrossOver Linux Server