Thinking of trying Linux; have a question

[bluehorizon]

Basically, I haven't used linux. Ever. However, I've heard good things and I'd like to give it a shot. I'm just sick of windows, basically.

My question is simple. Will programs made for Windows work with Linux? Games, office etc, or will I bet SOL? Is there a WMP10 equivalent for Linux?

Thanks!

 

[V00D00]

I've never used linux, but I can answer your question.. no

you can use an emulator (WINE) or something to run then, but not straight up. And there's usually a big performance hit when you do, but I'm no linux expert.

 

[KoolDrew]

No you cannot, but as V00D00 sdaid you can run them through emulation, but it is a bit slow. There are many free alternatives to programs you may use under Windows though.

 

[Dragonbate]

Well I'm a linux noob myself but... I have been running a linux box for almost two months now. I'd reccoment trying a few installations if you have a spare computer to try them. You can also set up your current computer to dual boot with little difficulty. As to your question about software compatibility: I've never tried to use wine or any emulator but I really didn't have a need to. Most distros come with just about all the basic software you need. The distro I'm using Xandros comes with a commercial version of wine that supposedly works quite well for alot of programs. Unfortunately it only comes with the "for pay' versions. The free version, which I linked, is still quite good and possibly the best at cloning windows. I was able to set it up as a workstation, file, print and web server all with little Linux knowlege. (See the link in my sig.) The only thing I wanted which I have not yet learned to set up is an ftp server. Other distros you might want to look at are Suse, Ubuntu & Mandrake. All are available for free download and have a strong following. Good Luck.
D

 

[Praetor]

If you have never used linux before, I would highly recommend downloading and trying out Knoppix. You can boot an entire linux distro right off a cd. Give that a try, if you like it, there are methods to install that particular distro onto your harddrive. otherwise, give mandrake linux a try, it's fairly n00b friendly.

 

[Nothinman]

My question is simple. Will programs made for Windows work with Linux? Games, office etc, or will I bet SOL? Is there a WMP10 equivalent for Linux?

From my perspective you'll be getting extremely lucky that those things don't run on Linux, most games suck, Office is a PITA and WMP is terrible =)

There are games written specifically for Linux (Q3, UT2K4, ET and a handfull of purely OSS ons) but the only way to run Windows games is via WINE and wether it works or not is still pretty hit and miss, the speed is supposed to be pretty good for most games but it won't be as simple as install and play.

you can use an emulator (WINE)

WINE is not an emulator.

And there's usually a big performance hit when you do, but I'm no linux expert.

The performance hit depends on the game, but it's usually not too big.

 

[V00D00]

If you're a noob, "emulator" is a good enough description for it. Who wants to say it's a compatability layer between linux and windows that provides a windows API without windows.

 

[kamper]

Originally posted by: V00D00
If you're a noob, "emulator" is a good enough description for it. Who wants to say it's a compatability layer between linux and windows that provides a windows API without windows.

Yeah, but that's like calling gnu unix

 

[Nothinman]

If you're a noob, "emulator" is a good enough description for it. Who wants to say it's a compatability layer between linux and windows that provides a windows API without windows.

It's not a good enough description because it's wrong. That would be like saying that Win64 is also a Win32 emulator because it can run Win32 apps or that cygwin is a unix emulator.