[Guide] Installing Microsoft Office 2016 on Ubuntu Using WINE

WINE is a compatibility layer that lets Linux users install and run Windows applications. It is not a virtual machine or an emulator. In simple words the compatibility layer translates Windows calls to Linux calls and thus something that can be understood by the underlying Linux system.

For GUI folks (like me), PlayOnLinux is a graphical frontend to manage WINE applications. It also helps to automate some processes during the execution of the EXE files through the use of POL Scripts.

All along POL  has a script that installs Microsoft Office 2010 to a point where it runs quite smoothly and mostly bug-free. However, future versions of Office have failed to be installed or run properly.

As I was playing around with a copy of Microsoft Office 2016, I was able to get Microsoft Office 2016 running "well enough^TM" such that it can be used on a day-to-day basis. Here I will outline the steps I have done to accomplish

My laptop is running Kubuntu 18.04.3 LTS and has POL 4.2.12-1 installed (from Ubuntu repositories). I based the installation steps on the Microsoft Office 2010 script and the Ubuntu Forums here.

Installation

1. Install POL, all dependencies, and tools using apt-get

sudo apt-get install wine-stable:i386 playonlinux winbind \                            smbclient gnome-disk-utility

2. Start up POL and go to Tools > Manage Wine versions. Proceed to install the 32-bit version of WINE version 4.15.
3. Grab a copy of the IMG file of Microsoft Office 2016 that you have activated using your Microsoft Account. Be sure to check "Offline install" as the Online installer will crash within the first 10 seconds.
4. Once downloaded, mount the IMG file as a disk. You can use "Disk Image Mounter" that comes with GNOME Disk Utility to mount the file.
5. Click on "Configure" on POL. We will need to customise the POL drive before we start installation.
6. Add a new drive by clicking on "New" and name the drive as you wish. The configurations are as below:-
   • 32 bits windows installation
   • Wine version 4.15
     
   • Name the drive accordingly
7. Select the new drive and click on the "Install Components" tab and install msxml6 and riched20.
8. Once done, navigate to the "Wine" tab and click on "Configure Wine".
9. In the "Applications" tab, set the Windows version to "Windows 7".
10. In the "Libraries" tab, set the following settings:-
    • riched20 (native, builtin)
    • msxml6 (native, builtin)
11. Close the Wine Config window, and open the "Registry Editor".
12. Navigate to HKCU\Software\Wine and right click on the "Wine" folder > New > Key
13. Rename the new key to "Direct2D".
14. Right click on "Direct2D" > New > DWORD Value.
15. Rename the new DWORD to max_version_factory.
16. Double click on "max_version_factory" and make sure that it is set to 0.
    
17. Close the Registry Editor.
18. On the POL Configure window, navigate to the "Miscellaneous" and click on "Run a .exe file in this vertual drive".
19. Select "setup.exe" in the mounted IMG file downloaded from office.com
20. The installation window will be half black. If you have a system tray, the MSO logo will appear. Clicking on it will show progress. It will also show a balloon when installation completed.
21. Kill all processes using the Kill processes button in the POL Configuration window (it is safe to do so after installation completes).
22. Create application shortcuts as needed (in the "General" tab).
23. Copy "AppvIsvSubsystems32.dll" and "C2R32.dll" from <office2016-root>/Program Files/Common Files/Microsoft Shared/ClickToRun/ to <office2016-root>/Program Files/Microsoft Office/root/Office16/
24. Start any of the Office applications. It will prompt that Office is not activated. DO NOT use the license key that came in the box of the Office 2016 -- it will not work.
25. Instead, go back to office.com > My Account > Service & Subscriptions .
26. Under the "Install" link there is a "Show Product Key" link. Clicking on it reveals a product key different from the one you have in the box. Use this license key to activate Office instead.
27. Once done, Office will be activated and can be used.

Bugs

• All drop down menus will require some weird clicks to work. For me I needed to double click the drop down button, then the next single click will open the drop down menu.
• The windows that spawn also have some quirks. For me, when windowed, I am able to drag the windows as per normal. However, I am not able to maximise the windows by dragging it to the top of my screen, and it will not move if I attempt to drag the window out of the maximised state.
• The Maximise/Restore button does not work. I have to rely on my window manager shortcut keys to maximise or restore the windows.

To wrap up, I put this here for one to remind myself on how to do it when I reinstall my OS (which is often), and I also hope that this guide will help someone who happen to chance upon this blog.

Thanks for reading this post, sorry for not posting for a LONG time. I'll try to make it more consistent in the future. You're awesome.