MS Microsoft Publisher 2010

[Zirynx]

Hi All,

First post here and and one that represents the start of a potentially long and complex journey into an unknown world!

SUMARY

I'm trying to get an up to date assessment of how well, or not, Publisher 2010 runs with WINE. My background reading says that it pretty much doesn't work at all but I'm trying to get an update from anyone that might have info which is more current than the other forum posts and AppDB info.

DETAILED

I am in the process of assisting a family member to switch from Windows XP (Thinkpad T41) to OS X 10.8.x (MBP Retina). The switch is mostly going smoothly, there having been a 10.6.8 iMac in the house for the last few years, so no reluctance to switch.

However, there is a need to accommodate MS Publisher into the mix and this is posing a real headache.

First, I should say that I really don't want this thread to turn into one where I'm told that Publisher is a dinosaur and that it should be ditched - this I realise but, the decision is not mine to take and, right now at least, it's non-negotiable. I simply have to find a way to accommodate Publisher, at least for the short term.

That said, I am open to suggestions of Mac OS X native alternatives which may represent a long term solution something that it might be possible to migrate to over time. But right now, I have to make Publisher work in some shape or fashion!

I prefer the option to use something like WINE (no emulation, no Windows 7 licence) but I am also considering a virtual machine (VMWare, Parallels, VirtualBox) as a means of accomplishing this. However, the latter approach is a very very heavy way to accommodate a single x86 program. And with it comes all the Windows issues that we are trying to get away from!

I'd appreciate any thoughts, help and assistance (especially 'gotchas' or solutions) that might be of help in my quest. I'm trying to work out what's viable before I sink a lot of potentially wasted time into something that is destined for failure.

FYI, I have no experience to date with any kind of virtualisation etc.

Many thanks.

[dimesio]

It will start up and can create a blank document, but freezes as soon as you do anything else.

[Zirynx]

That's pretty much what I'd read, but wanted to canvass updates in case the position had changed due to undocumented improvements, hacks or workarounds. Looks like it's a non-starter!

Thanks for the reply.