problems with vmware: which virtual machine is best?

[benit]

I currently use vmware player latest version with Maui, but unfortunately in short intervals the CPU load rises to 100%, blocks any other actions only to work normal again for 1, ... 5 minutes.

If anybody knows how to fix this, I would be happy to do so.

Otherwise - coming back to my question - which is the best virtual machine to use with Maui?

I mainly would like to run Office 2010 and my HP scanner software and some smaller, not demanding apps that I rarely use but that have special features that I only found on Windows so far.

Thank you very much in advance for helping!

[rocky7x]

Hi,

I use Virtualbox for years and being very satisfied with it. No issues at all. Using the version from the Ubuntu repositories, not the one from Virtualbox site, though.

As for Office 2010, I use it as well, but via wine - it works flawlessly, so you can maybe try it that way.

As for the HP printer/scanner, I use them as well, via HP Lip - all functions work flawlessly once the proprietary plugin is installed. So if those are only 2 things you need the VM for, maybe you can ditch Windows for good.

The only thing I need VM for are SAP related apps, which are pretty much non-existent for Linux and wine cannot run them properly.

[benit]

Hi,

I use Virtualbox for years and being very satisfied with it. No issues at all. Using the version from the Ubuntu repositories, not the one from Virtualbox site, though.

As for Office 2010, I use it as well, but via wine - it works flawlessly, so you can maybe try it that way.

As for the HP printer/scanner, I use them as well, via HP Lip - all functions work flawlessly once the proprietary plugin is installed. So if those are only 2 things you need the VM for, maybe you can ditch Windows for good.

The only thing I need VM for are SAP related apps, which are pretty much non-existent for Linux and wine cannot run them properly.

Thank you very much for responding so quickly!

I never succeeded with Wine and Office 2010 and I do not want to spend much time with that. If there is an "idiot-safe" step-by-step guide I might try again in the next weeks.

I have IRIS software for OCR for the HP scanner, that is my concern. I did not find any comparable Linux alternative that also improves scanned image AND OCRs it. Was in contact with Vuescan, but that does not run with Maui and my HP scanner so far.

[benit]

I assume that there is no "converter" that can convert a vmplayer virtual machine to a virtual box machine, right?

[benit]

Here is an interesting statement from Derek Giroulle who seems to have good experience with both VirtualBox and vmware Player:

[url=https://www.quora.com/Which-is-the-best-virtual-machine-software-for-Ubuntu]

Seems I am not on a bad track in principle...

[rocky7x]

I assume that there is no "converter" that can convert a vmplayer virtual machine to a virtual box machine, right?

Virtualbox's VBoxManage knows how to convert vmdk (VMWare's format) to vdi (Virtualbox's format). The command is quite straightforward:

Code:

vboxmanage clonehd --format VDI filename.vmdk filename.vdi

Of course, before starting the conversion make sure the VMWare machine is shut down completely. Then after this, just create a similar virtual machine in Virtualbox and instead of creating a new virtual disk, use the existing VDI file. That's it

[rocky7x]

Hi,

I use Virtualbox for years and being very satisfied with it. No issues at all. Using the version from the Ubuntu repositories, not the one from Virtualbox site, though.

As for Office 2010, I use it as well, but via wine - it works flawlessly, so you can maybe try it that way.

As for the HP printer/scanner, I use them as well, via HP Lip - all functions work flawlessly once the proprietary plugin is installed. So if those are only 2 things you need the VM for, maybe you can ditch Windows for good.

The only thing I need VM for are SAP related apps, which are pretty much non-existent for Linux and wine cannot run them properly.

Thank you very much for responding so quickly!

I never succeeded with Wine and Office 2010 and I do not want to spend much time with that. If there is an "idiot-safe" step-by-step guide I might try again in the next weeks.

I have IRIS software for OCR for the HP scanner, that is my concern. I did not find any comparable Linux alternative that also improves scanned image AND OCRs it. Was in contact with Vuescan, but that does not run with Maui and my HP scanner so far.

Hi,

Installing Office 2010 in wine 1.8 is very easy, quite straightforward:
1. create a new prefix for office 2010 (must be 32-bit):

Code:

WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-office2010 WINEARCH='win32' winecfg

2. when it finishes, just close winecfg and mount the Office 2010 installation iso

Code:

sudo mkdir /media/office
sudo mount -o loop office2010.iso /media/office

3. install the needed packages

Code:

sudo apt-get install winbind winetricks

4. via winetricks install into that new prefix corefonts and msxml6

Code:

WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-office2010 WINEARCH='win32' winetricks corefonts msxml6

5. cd /media/office and start the office installation and install all components you need

Code:

WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-office2010 WINEARCH='win32' wine setup.exe

6. once the installation is finished, start the winecfg in the prefix, switch to tab Libraries and set riched20.dll to Native - this is needed for Powerpoint to work.

Code:

WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-office2010 WINEARCH='win32' winecfg

It will also create the links for all M$ programs in the start menu and also in the right click context menu So the usage is completely native - I use it without any problems for a long time already (when Libreoffice doesn't work )

As for the IRIS software, it should work excellent via wine as well, since it has Platinum support from wine - check this:
https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.p...&iId=23406

The only prerequisite apparently is to use a 32-bit prefix (similar to Office 2010).

[kdemeoz]

I currently use vmware player latest version with Maui, ... which is the best virtual machine to use with Maui?

I use VirtualBox, & am happy* with it. Unlike Rocky though mine is the proprietary one from Oracle [& its Linux Extensions / Guest Additions]. I have LOTS of VB VMs, mostly Linux, but also some Windows [XP & Win10].

* with one glaring exception - VM audio stopped working for me many many versions ago, & i've never solved it. I have a sneaking suspicion that it might not be VB's fault necessarily, but possibly the PulseAudio Equaliser i use is to blame [as that has also caused other issues https://forums.mauilinux.org/showthread....9#pid42159 ].

[kdemeoz]

Hi,

Installing Office 2010 in wine 1.8 is very easy, quite straightforward:

<<snip>>

The only prerequisite apparently is to use a 32-bit prefix (similar to Office 2010).

Oh wow, now this really is interesting! I might try it tomorrow. Currently i use WPS Office for Linux, being a very near analogue of MS Office 2010 [aka, ripoff, maybe], but it appears that they might have now abandoned the Linux version, so current bugs & omissions probably will never be fixed[?]. During my long transition period from Windows to Linux a few years ago i tried many possible Linux alternatives to MS Office 2010 [leading eventually to WPS], but before that i experimented with trying to run MS Office in Linux via Wine & then PlayOnLinux, but they were mostly disastrous [your Wine procedure is waaaaaaay more intricate than i tried, so no doubt that's why mine failed]. 

I don't have an ISO for MS Office 2010 though, only its original installation cd [dvd?], so maybe i can't use your method?

[rocky7x]

Hi,

Installing Office 2010 in wine 1.8 is very easy, quite straightforward:

<<snip>>

The only prerequisite apparently is to use a 32-bit prefix (similar to Office 2010).

Oh wow, now this really is interesting! I might try it tomorrow. Currently i use WPS Office for Linux, being a very near analogue of MS Office 2010 [aka, ripoff, maybe], but it appears that they might have now abandoned the Linux version, so current bugs & omissions probably will never be fixed[?]. During my long transition period from Windows to Linux a few years ago i tried many possible Linux alternatives to MS Office 2010 [leading eventually to WPS], but before that i experimented with trying to run MS Office in Linux via Wine & then PlayOnLinux, but they were mostly disastrous [your Wine procedure is waaaaaaay more intricate than i tried, so no doubt that's why mine failed]. 

I don't have an ISO for MS Office 2010 though, only its original installation cd [dvd?], so maybe i can't use your method?

Using the original cd (dvd) is absolutely ok - the same approach works with it as well, just instead of mounting the iso, you insert the disc into the drive