virtualization is a good way to go, but if you want to just run a few apps and you cannot afford a windows install wine is about your only shot.. its really well developed. i personally dual boot, and i use bios to swap my drives which is a little cumbersome but it keeps Vista and Linux form farting with each others bootsectors. but i also have vmware installed as well. but i do weird stuff On Sun, Nov 9, 2008 at 8:57 PM, Jim March <1.jim.march@gmail.com> wrote: > On Sun, Nov 9, 2008 at 8:24 PM, mike havens wrote: >> I was told about running windows within a linux install a couple of days >> ago. I assume this ,eans I will keep my windows partition intact. How does >> this work; is it like WINE? >> >> -- >> :-)~MIKE~(-: > > There are three ways to get Windows apps running on a PC that boots Linux. > > The first is dual-boot. You choose a real copy of Winwhatever at > boot, side by side with Linux. The advantage is that you get 100% > pure total Windows compatibility. The bad news is that a Windows > virus can nuke your hard disk's ability to boot either OS. This is > the usual choice for gamers. > > Wine adds a partial Windows compatibility layer under Linux and lets > you run some Windows apps. The selection is actually pretty decent > but there are sometimes odd glitches. Not for mission-critical > business apps, that's for damnsure. > > A Windows Virtual Machine lets you run a real copy of Windows (most > people go with XP) underneath Linux. You boot Linux then start a > "Virtual Machine Manager" application in which you create (or after > that, adjust) the "hardware parameters" for a fake computer that in > turn runs Windows. > > This is what I use. > > On my 2gig Ubuntu machine, I use VirtualBox (www.virtualbox.org) to > specify a virtual machine with, in my case, 768megs RAM. Windows runs > in that. Whenever I use Virtualbox's management screen to start > Windows, it eats that much RAM from my system. > > When installing Windows, I also set up a Windows disk space file. > This file in the Linux directories is right now about 3gig last I > looked, and is allowed to grow to 15gig max per my settings. I could > create a second "disk file" for the virtual machine if I wanted. > > Virtualbox comes in two flavors: Open Source Edition (OSE) usually > found in your distro's repositories, or the "Personal Evaluation Use > License" (the "full tilt" copy) free for personal non-commercial use, > but businesses need to pay for it. > > The difference is, the "full tilt" variant can do networking between > the host Linux side and the guest Windows side. In the Virtualbox > manager screen, you can select Linux directories to share with > Windows, and from within Windows access those as drive letters. You > can also do "USB passthrough", connecting USB devices straight to the > guest Windows box. Don't do that to a mouse, but it can be damned > useful for printers and other stuff. (For USB memory sticks, just > share /media or your equivelent with Windows so that within Windows > you can access USB disks even if they're formatted EXT3 or similar.) > > This works really, really well. Stable as all hell. The only > downsides are a slight speed penalty, and we don't yet have the > ability to do 3D gaming within the Windows virtual machine. (They're > working on that.) > > The advantages are huge. Any Windows virus is limited to affecting > the Windows "disk file" which is in your home directory and if you're > smart, backed up on a regular basis. You can also save a whole series > of special-needs Windows installs and copy the one you need to the > working directory. > > I'm running the latest Virtualbox 2.0.4 off of their repository under > Ubuntu Intrepid. Zero problems...I use it to take apart voting system > databases and for various test purposes. And let's be honest, you > never know when you just have to run a Win app...hell, I once rented a > Blockbuster video that just would NOT play in anything. Several > apt-gets later I said screw it, fired up Windows, watched my damn > movie :). It happens, y'know? > > System requirements: I'd recommend at least a P4 1.4gHz with 1gig RAM > as a starting point. More memory will help, as will any sort of > dual-core CPU (AMD or Intel) as they have "hardware virtualization > support" known as VT-x if it's Intel and AMD-V in, you guessed it... > > I run all this on the lowest possible grade of dual-core lappy > possible ($500 Best Buy special Dell 1525) with 2gigs. It worked fine > on my last rig, a Celeron-M 1.6gHz Acer with 1.5gigs RAM. I'm able to > use Compiz to put Windows up on one pane of the cube fullscreen and > rotate to Linux as desired...great way to freak out the Windows > droids. > > I was able to run a speed comparo with that Acer next to an identical > machine running Vista home edition straight-up. I set up both with > 1gig RAM, with my box running Ubuntu, Virtualbox and XP. Running > *Windows* application (MS-Office stuff) my critter was faster with RAM > split 50/50 Ubuntu/Windows. Blew my mind. > > Hope this helps. > > Jim > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button. Stephen --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss