Microsoft Office (installer only)

What works

(MS Office Professional)

Followed the directions here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/879304/wine-2-0-says-it-supports-office-2013-how-do-i-actually-install-it

Worked flawless, try to leave it as 64bits wine bottle:

rm -Rf ./wine  #carefull, this deletes your entire wine config (fine if you want to start afresh)

Then:

WINEPREFIX=~/.wine wineboot

After this, you can:

WINEPREFIX=~/.wine32 WINEARCH=win32 your_32bit_executable.exe

WINEPREFIX=~/.wine WINEARCH=win64 your_64bit_executable.exe

To fix the problem in PowerPoint (not enough memory), I added two overrides with winecfg in Library section: "riched20" and "usp10".

I've managed to install the SP1 service pack, it worked too. In version section in Word it changed to 15.0.4569.1506, so it went well.

In order to avoid features to be installed in the installation wizard, you should use the "n" letter in the drop menues (point with the mouse over the option and press "n" a few times, it will turns red and the "X" mark will appear), you can not see the options because it dissapears in 0,00001 seconds. 

If it is a sub-feature, and there is not X option, you can use "i" instead (install at first use).

What does not

Running Power Point you will find black menues, the workaround fix it.

Workarounds

Added two overrides with winecfg in Library section: "riched20" and "usp10".

What was not tested

Updates: you must to run them manually. There is a workaround (difficulty: medium)

1. To clone a current office 2013 update scheme in a Windows OS running machuine and transfer it to the Wine instalation in your Linux.

2. Use an automated software to identify which updates are required in the current Wine instalation and deploy it under Linux.

For these two options the outcome is the same: you will have to re-install office 2013 in order to get it full patched using MSP files copied in the "updates" folder located in the installation media, the only difference is the source of these update files (methods 1 and 2).

For the first case (1. To clone a current office update database):

The Office installer has an option to install any .msp file stored in /update folder under the installation path.

You can clone a current office 2013 updates database following the directions here: supportishere.com/how-to-download-microsoft-office-2013-updates-the-easy-way/ and place the files in the /updates folder, so then, you install
office using: WINEPREFIX=~/.wine/Office2013 WINEARCH=win32 wine ~/office/setup.exe

And setup.exe will detect any .msp file in the /update folder and will apply them.

Pros: you will have a full updated office using files directly from Microsoft.

Second option (use an automated software)

I've tested wsusoffline www.wsusoffline.net, it has two executables: UpdateGenerator.exe and UpdateInstaller.exe (in "client" folder).

With the first one you can scan your current office installation and check for the missing updates: 

WINEPREFIX=~/.wine/Office2013 WINEARCH=win32 wine ~/wsusoffline/UpdateGenerator.exe

Then, you will have all the .cab files stored in the client/wsus/ folder. Now, you have to run UpdateInstaller.exe (at this point it failed, I couldn't get it running fine).

The option here is to convert all the .cab files to .msp files, so you can copy them to the /setup folder under the office 2013 install folder, and run setup.exe as instructed in option 1 (clone an existing full patched office installation).

Pros: You can update your office without access to a Windows running machine

Cons: You rely on a third party to get security software and fixes.

Overall cons for strategy 1 or 2: With any of these strategies you will still have to reinstall your Office from time to time in order to get the updates installed or install any new updates files manually one by one as it gets published by Microsoft.

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU: AMD
• Driver: proprietary

Additional Comments

We need a fix in order to get updates installed in a more practical way.

1. Test in a clean wineprefix, using plain Wine. 
2. Specify exactly which edition of Office you tested (Standard, Pro, etc.). This is crucial--bugs that affect one edition may not affect others.
3. Specify exactly what type of install you tested (Typical, Custom, Minimal, etc.)
4. Limit your report to the installer only. Reports on the performance of individual apps should be filed under their respective AppDB entries. Problems with running any of the apps should only be mentioned if it is clear that it is due to a problem with the installer.
5. If you used any overrides during the install, please list them and explain exactly what problem each override was needed to solve.

Test reports that do not follow these guidelines will be rejected.