I'm a dual booter (Redhat/Win2k). I find that the only compelling reason to keep Windows around is for TurboTax and Quicken. I know that there are alternatives to Quicken for Linux (GnuCash, MoneyDance) and I plan on trying them, but I know of know true substitute for TurboTax.

Has anyone tried running Quicken and/or TurboTax under Wine? Any success?

Chris

not in wine, but you might want to download and test TurboTax in Crossover Office. it runs Quicken/Quickbooks flawlessly so it should also run TurboTax rather well too.

http://www.codeweavers.com/site/products/

http://www.codeweavers.com/site/comp...ame?app_id=181

read up on those and test it out. there is a 30day free trial for their product, and if you like it then $40USD is a small price to pay IMHO to get rid of windows.

I checked out several online tax preparation services several months ago and the one I liked is www.taxengine.com. I have tested it with Firefox, classic Mozilla and Konqueror under Mepis Linux. The printable output of TaxEngine consists of standard pdf files, or you can e-file your return if you so choose (but you will want to print copies for your records anyway). If you go that route, the issue of whether or not TurboTax will run under Wine/Crossover Office/Win4Lin becomes moot.

Where many of the online services fall down is that you MUST go through a tedious interview process and there is no way to circumvent it. If you just want to cut to the chase and enter your dividend income or mortgage interest, you still have to go through the whole interview. With TaxEngine you can go directly to the forms and enter data there, which makes a BIG difference.

There is a competing service called CompleteTax which is slightly more polished, but they do not support Linux and I was unable to open their pdf file in the above-mentioned browsers, which strikes me as a bit boneheaded. Maybe it would be possible to save the pdf file locally to HD and then open it up that way. That's something I should try.

When I was using RH/Fedora, I could never get TT to install, and I have a dard time keeping my Wotdows laptops running (usually say "NTLDR not found". I have switched to kubuntu 6.10 and got TT 2005 to install and run just fine but not 2006. I read that someone had to copy the TT CD tohis hard disc asd install from there but I get a failure to copy on some symbolic links.

I have used QuickBooks with Crossover for years but couldn't get it to work with Fedora 6. It installs and runs on kubuntu but I haven't been able to pick up my old data from a .qbb (backup) file.

Turbotax was my request in '03 for the sticky thread "What programs would you like to see ported to Linux?". That was also my only reason for keeping windows around.

Last year I used the free online versions from both Turbotax & H&R Block TaxCut (to compare). Both worked acceptably well, in my opinion.

Also check out TaxAct. I know the online version works fine with Linux since I used it last year. Not sure about the Paid version, but I think it also has some hooks for bookkeeping programs.

You may not even need Wine.

Since a few weeks I am running VMWare with a copy of W2k. I use it for 2 or 3 production apps I really have to use. I have mixed feelings about still using W2k, but darn, how far do you have to go to keep doing your work if 90% of the world think Windows is a synonym for operating system? After all I have to produce results instead of a half-working application because I insist on using Linux.

VMWare server and the console program are legally and freely available to install on Linux.

jlinkels

So is the idea to install VMWARE Server, Install a copy of Windows on this Virtual Machine, Then install the silly apps that haven't ported yet?

TomT...

Yes, that is what I did.

Fortunately I am not tempted to use Windows more than I absolutely have to. The bookkeeping program is the only program I use every day. MSOffice once in a week.

jlinkels

I am currently running one Windows machine with VNC Server which I just log into whenever I need to use one of these applications. I am wondering if I should change my mode of operation? This is a simple painless way to gain access to a windows box, hardware is so cheap. That way any tool which only runs on Windows or doesn't have a decent Linux compitable version I can load on this machine and everyone in the office can just log into using VNC. Not the most high-tech approach but it's simple and easy to manage.

Thanks for the insight, I will check out VMWare and see if this is a solution in my future? Did you try out Wine or it's varients?

TomT...

Tom,

This might look like "whatever you do, my way is better". I have tried the VNC solution just like you, including the multiple user access. I found a number of drawbacks:

- Once in the so many times I attempted to connect to the VNC machine it would not let me in.

- VNC is just slower than a real machine. While typing characters or moving the mouse you'll notice some lag. Screen redraw can be slow.

- If the VNC machine hangs you are forced to go over to it and reset it. My home and office are 10 km apart. I used the VNC machine at my office. I was not amused to get out at 11:30 pm and hit the reset button.

- Hardware is cheap, but I pay about $50/month for electricity for each box I have running 24/7.

As opposed to that, these are the advantages I found with VMWare:

- You can log into VMWare from remote machines. Other users can do that as well to the same VM. If I am not mistaken, multiple users can use the same VM at the same time. (WOW, the first time that Windows is really multi-user!)

- Screen handling is MUCH faster. When I connect now to my office to the VM over a 1 Mbps connection, I do not notice *any* delay.

- Hanging machines is not a problem anymore as you can reset them from the console which is a Linux environment.

Until now, I have never found the need to install multiple virtual machines as advertised. I plan to install additional VM's to try out different Linux distro's though.

I have tried Wine. One application would show a grey window instead of what it had to show. Since that alone caused the need for a real Windows machine, Wine was not a solution, not even if it would run other applications.

jlinkels

Jlinkels,

I have also noticed all the things that you have. But my Windows box is in a closet with the rest of my Linux machines and it is only 20 feet away.

But your point of unresponsive GUI has me wondering if I shouldn't give VMWare a good shot. I will read up on it, give it a spin and see if it makes sense.

Thanks for the advise, you have given me lots to think about :-)

TomT...

Have either of you thought about trying VirtualBox? I am a remote contractor and run Linux as my primary OS, but still require Windows for Outlook only - can't use Evolution because the company does not have OWA enabled, another story all together. With this being said I have to use Windows for Outlook, plus I really like Toad over SQLDeveloper so that gets installed too...

I was a very big fan of VMWare for years since I have gone to Linux. That was until I found VirtualBox. In my opinion VirtualBox seems much faster than VMWare, and it's free. I have been using it for roughly a year now and it has turned into a very stable system, plus the seamless mode is very nice. Go do some research and compare the two. Heck install them both and see which one you like the best.

Here are some useful links - some are VirtualBox bias
http://www.linux-gamers.net/smartsec...x-vs-qemu.html
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/VBox_vs_Others
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=433366
http://www.mangoorange.com/2007/07/0...lpc-or-vmware/

Hmmm interesting. Tell you what, I need another VM on my laptop, I am gonna install VirtualBox just to try.

jlinkels

I've recently installed VirtualBox on my Kubuntu 7.10 machine. I installed a fedora 8 Vm and it runs flawlessly.
I need an XP key then hopefully I can install Quicken and TurboTax.