| Quicken and QuickBooks and Visio, oh my! (on Linux, that is) |
Rick Lehrbaum (August 7, 2002)
DesktopLinux.com founder and executive editor Rick Lehrbaum previews a beta version of CodeWeavers CrossOver Office 1.2, which now supports Quicken and Visio (among other enhancements). Lehrbaum also interviews CodeWeavers CEO Jeremy White, to learn more about what else is coming, and what it takes for new apps to be added to CrossOver Office's support . . .
Part 1: The beta test
Last week, CodeWeavers' CEO Jeremy White sent me a quick email to give me a heads up that they were getting ready to release version 1.2 of CrossOver Office, and to offer me the chance to preview a beta version. "CrossOver Office 1.2 is going to have support for Visio and Quicken, and lots of bug fixes," said White. "If you'd be interested in more, I'd be happy to discuss it with you, or drop you a beta."
Did I want to test Quicken on CrossOver Office? Are you kidding??? "Yes! Y-e-s! Y-E-S!," I swiftly replied. "But what about QuickBooks?" I added.
"One of the last minute failures was in QuickBooks," White replied. "But we fixed it. QuickBooks is a *very* recent addition, and we haven't really tested it to see how well it works, but so far it look promising."
The idea of being able to run Quicken and, more importantly, QuickBooks on my Linux system was truly exciting! Ever since fully defenestrating my desktop system back in May 2001 (it doesn't even dual boot anymore), the only program I still run on Windows is QuickBooks, which is used for my company's accounting.
I realize there are some Linux programs that could get the job done -- but my accountant uses QuickBooks for all his clients, and it's really nice to be able to email him a QuickBooks "Accountant Transfile File" (QBX file) so he can review the status of my business, advise me on accounting procedures, and prepare my tax returns. No, despite the availability of some decent accounting programs on Linux (GnuCash, Quasar, others?), I really need QuickBooks on Linux.
Quickly trying Quicken
After receiving the URL and password for accessing the beta, I downloaded and installed the new version of CrossOver Office and was soon ready to install Quicken and QuickBooks on my system and see if they worked.
I tried Quicken first, because White said it was more certain to work than QuickBooks at this point in the beta cycle. OfficeSetup, the CrossOver Office installation utility, seemed to do its business quite handily. The procedure: - Select 'Quicken' from its list of known-installable programs
- Click 'Add'
- Click 'Eject' to open the CDROM tray
- Put in Quicken CD; click 'OK' (which starts the installation from the CD)
- Watch, with utter amazement, as Quicken's installation process progresses exactly as it does on Windows
- Respond to installation prompts in the 'normal' manner (as if installing Quicken on Windows).
- Test Quicken
- Smile!
The easy-to-use OfficeSetup software installation utility
Although I didn't attempt to verify everything, I did try importing the Quicken backup file (QDB) from my family's Windows system, and it appeared to come up and work just fine! One important thing I didn't try, probably due to sheer cowardice, was to see if I could download transactions from our bank and credit cards onto my Linux system. I'll leave the tough testing to the Quicken Expert (see interview, below).
Quicken running on my Linux system
Now for the big test
Sure, White warned me that QuickBooks didn't quite work yet, but was I going to let that stop me? Not this Penguinista!
Back to OfficeSetup. Insert QuickBooks 2000 CD. Click OK. Wait . . . Keep waiting . . .
Nothing happened! No installation messages, no failure message, nothing.
In reply to my email expressing my disappointment at QuickBooks not installing (sure, I knew it wasn't supposed to work yet), I was told to try installing it using OfficeSetup's 'Other' option instead of the 'CD-ROM' option; this allows you to install from a selected .exe file, anywhere on your system. So, I pointed to the setup.exe on the QuickBooks CD and the process appeared to proceed successfully.
The only problem was that OfficeSetup didn't complete the installation process in its normal manner: there was no message from OfficeSetup indicating successful completion, no 'Installed' beside QuickBooks in the list of installable programs, and no QuickBooks icon on my KDE desktop.
It had failed.
Or had it . . . ?
I decided to see whether the program had been installed on my hard drive, by searching inside the /home/rick/cxoffice/ directory. And then I found it. Deep within cxoffice, inside 'fake_windows', in an 'Intuit' directory -- there resided the holy grail of my Windows defenestration: qbw.exe.
So I created a launch icon on my KDE desktop and gave it a test click. Voila! QuickBooks 2000 running on my Linux desktop system.
QuickBooks running on my Linux system
Using QuickBooks on Linux
How well does QuickBooks work? I haven't had much time to play with it, but already I can say it's not without some problems. I've tried basic functions like writing checks, entering invoices, paying bills, and they seem to work OK. On the other hand, there are some functions that don't work, I think because they require the presence of Internet Explorer, which isn't installed on my system (yes, CrossOver Office supposedly supports IE). The more immediate problem is that on my system (I use a video resolution of 800 x 600), the nested windows in QuickBooks don't completely fit on the screen. It doesn't prevent me from using the various functions, but it's tricky to get at the required on-screen buttons in some cases.
But hey, let's be fair! QuickBooks isn't supposed to work yet, and yet it's already relatively usable. I've seen CodeWeavers fix problems like this before, and I have zero doubt of their ability to have these problems solved within a week or two. I can wait!
Feeling the magic
I'm sure it will be a while before I get used to the CrossOver 'magic'. It still amazes me, for example, when I click on that little Windows icon in my KDE Panel (see screenshot, below) and Word loads 'as if on Windows', on my Linux system, in about three seconds flat.
Even the very presence of those Microsoft Office and other Windows application icons on my KDE desktop seems weird, like some alien life forms that settled there during the night. I guess it's proof that peaceful coexistence among staunch enemies is really possible!
Today the Linux desktop, tomorrow the world ;-)
Note the CrossOver-installed icons on my KDE desktop
Continue to part 2 . . .
(Click here for further information)
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