and run some    Microsoft   Windows applications    in  Linux   by  using   an
application named   Wine.   Wine    enables you to  use Microsoft   Windows and
DOS programs    on  UNIX-based  systems.    Wine    includes    a   program loader  that
you can use to  execute a   Windows binary, along   with    a   DLL library that
implements  Windows command calls,  translating them    to  the equivalent
UNIX    and X11 command calls.  Because of  frequent    updates to  the Wine    code
base,   Wine    is  not included    with    Ubuntu. Download    a   current version of  Wine
from    www.winehq.org. To  see whether your    favorite    application is  supported
by  Wine,   you can look    at  the Wine    application database    at
https://appdb.winehq.org.
Other   solutions,  primarily   CrossOver   Office  from    CodeWeavers,    enable  use
of  Microsoft   productivity    applications.   If  you are after   a   closer-to-painless
way of  running not only    Microsoft   Office  but also    Apple   iTunes  and other
software,   you should  investigate CodeWeavers.    CrossOver   Office  is  one of
the simplest    programs    you can use to  get Windows-based   programs    to  work.
Check   out www.codeweavers.com to  download    a   trial   version of  the latest
software.
References
http://www.libreoffice.org—The  home    page    for the LibreOffice suite
http://www.documentfoundation.org—The   home    page    for The Document
Foundation
http://www.openoffice.org—The   home    page    for the OpenOffice.org  office
suite
http://www.pdfedit.cz/en/index.html—The home    page    for PDF Edit
http://www.codeweavers.com—The  home    page    for CrossOver   Office  from
CodeWeavers that    enables you to  run some    Windows programs    under
Linux