[Solved] Dual booting

[vasa1]

I'm thinking of installing a Linux OS (Bodhi) on my PC which already has Win XP so that I can boot into either OS via GRUB.

All my .ods files have been created in the Win XP version of OO.o and now work just fine in LibO (also on WinXP).

If I install LibO in my Linux system, will it see and be able to use the same .ods files? I don't mind saving them again on the Linux system. I have a few macros associated with specific .ods files.

My ultimate goal is to just use Linux and it would be convenient if it would see and use my existing Win XP .ods files.

[Villeroy]

Boot your machine from a Linux Live CD and try out.

[Hagar Delest]

I don't recall if the NTFS support is now fully implemented or if it's still experimental.
The best bet is to have a dedicated partition in FAT32 to exchange files between the 2 operating systems.

NB: if the question is just about reading, the files, then yes, OOo from Ubuntu partition can read the XP files with no problem.

Please add '[Solved]' at the beginning of your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.

[RGB]

A few things to consider:
- Unless your macros do specific system calls or use system specific libraries, your documents will work without problems on any OS were OOo/LibO is available. Only possible problem are fonts used on your documents: you will not find times new roman or calibri on Linux due to copyright issues.
- If you need to access those files from both OSs, then consider Hagar's advice or ask on a board for your chosen distro if they enable ntfs-3g driver by default or you need to configure it after installation: this driver is stable and reliable, but most distros do not enable it by default so you will only be able to read the file (last time I checked there was a tiny app called ntfs-config or something like that... cannot be more precise: I don't have ntfs partitions on my system ).
- AFAIK, Bodhi Linux use Enlightenment Desktop. Be careful: even if the base libraries are considered "stable" the desktop itself is not: it's on an early development state since I remember and last time I tried it, it had a really poor file browser, a fundamental tool for a desktop environment. If you are new to Linux I'll recommend you to use a more user friendly environment. If system resources are a problem, you can install openSUSE with lxde or fxce, for example: just spend a few time prior to the install looking at the information available, and select the items you really need during install.

[vasa1]

Thank you, Villeroy, Hagar, and RGB

I will be trying the live USB soon. I've downloaded the .iso ... took me ~4 hours with my net speed. I will be using UNetbootin for the next step.

I remember having dual booted with Ubuntu a few years back and being able to see and open several files in the Windows partition but I couldn't remember if the .ods files were among those.

My macros are simple ones (even though you guys (including RoryF) had to guide me to get things done) and I don't think they're OS-specific.

I'm not too hung up on fonts so not having this or that shouldn't be an issue. I currently use Tahoma and Verdana on Win XP.

My reason for going with Bodhi was that the install would basically be the OS and the file management system leaving the user to download specific software. This is unlike some of the more popular distros which try to be complete. For me, downloading something Ubuntu would take 70% of my monthly 1 GB ration.

RGB, Enlightenment is now E17 and I hope it's far better than the version you had tried sometime ago.

This is my nth attempt to become a Linux user. I hope I succeed!

[vasa1]

I finally got Mint 11 dual booting with Windows.

Mint 11 comes with LibO:
LibreOffice 3.3.2
OOO330m19 (Build:202)
tag libreoffice-3.3.2.2, Ubuntu package 1:3.3.2-1ubuntu5

And, once I dragged my .ods file from Windows to Mint, my macros are working just fine. I had to set up the keyboard shortcuts again but that was no work.

So I'm happy. I suspect by the time Mint 12 turns up, I'll be confident enough to have just the Mint OS. Thanks, again for all the help!

(In edit: I also get the impression, without assistance of timers, that LibO opens faster.)