Office R Tool

About this release

The desktop document suite has a deployment system underneath it that is entirely capable but is configured through a configuration file that almost nobody wants to write by hand. This tool is the window that sits in front of that system. Every choice that would otherwise be an element in a file becomes a checkbox: which applications get installed, which architecture, which language packs, which release channel, and whether existing installs get removed first.

That makes it genuinely useful for building a machine to a specification. A shop that wants the word processor and the spreadsheet but not the database or the mail client, in one architecture, in two languages, from a particular channel, can express all of that in about thirty seconds and then reuse the same selection on the next machine. The tool downloads the components it needs directly from source, so the install is the real one rather than a repacked image.

Beyond deployment it handles the housekeeping the suite normally hides. Existing installations are detected and listed with their version and channel, broken installs can be repaired or removed cleanly including the leftovers that ordinary uninstall leaves behind, update behaviour and channel can be switched without reinstalling, and licensing state is displayed and managed from the same window.

The whole thing is portable and runs from wherever it is unpacked. Nothing is installed, no service is left behind, and it works equally well from a technician's USB stick as from a folder on the desktop. For anyone who builds or repairs machines regularly, it collapses a long manual process into one screen.

What it does

Checkbox deployment

Applications, architecture, languages, channel and version chosen in a window rather than in a configuration file.

Installs from source

Components are fetched directly, so the result is a genuine install rather than a repacked image.

Detection and cleanup

Existing installs are listed with version and channel, and removal takes the leftovers with it.

Channel and update control

Switch release channel or change update behaviour without reinstalling.

Licensing management

Current state shown and managed from the same window.

Portable operation

Runs from a folder or a USB stick with nothing installed behind it.

Changed in this version

• Component and channel lists refreshed to current availability.
• Cleanup routine handles a wider set of leftover registration entries.
• Interface reorganised with clearer separation between install and maintenance tasks.
• Faster detection on machines with several suite versions present.
• Added more interface languages.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive to a folder or a USB stick.
2. Run the program as administrator.
3. Remove any existing suite installation from the maintenance tab before deploying a new one.
4. Choose applications, architecture, language and channel, then start the deployment.

Worth knowing before you start

File details