Bringing Windows to the Linux Desktop

Posted by on 06/29 at 10:52 AM
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In a perfect world, the operating system that you use wouldn’t matter. We’re moving towards that with the growing use and availability of Web applications. But the day when the operating system is irrelevant is still awhile off.

Right now, though, Windows is the dominant operating system. And there are no Linux versions of the popular and most widely-used applications for Windows—programs like Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop.

    Posted by Jerry Palsson  on  06/29  at  01:53 PM

  1. Trouble is, you MUST have Windows if there’s just ONE critical application you need.  In my case, it’s TurboTax.  That’s a deal-killer for Crossover Office.  Wine takes care of almost all my other Windows needs (which, thankfully, are few.)

    2. Posted by William Shelton  on  06/29  at  02:03 PM

  2. I would like to see some mention of a linux program both free and comercial called “lenspire” a very good linux dist with a free side. I use this on my laptop and it works really well.

    3. Posted by brobob  on  06/29  at  02:31 PM

  3. Greetings Folks,

    I like to read Tech-Tips because I get so much out of there Tips and it keeps me up the world of technology.
    The two things that I do not like to read waist my time with are Mac and Linux, I went read the tip anyway just in case things had changed with Linux
    operating systems it had some how became easier to use!
    After looking I can see the same reasons I stopped using are still there and its just as hard to use as it was few years ago when I tried it and pulled my hair out; [removed]void(0);
    cool grin bit the bullet and went back to windows!

    If so few folks use this OS why feature it on Tech-tips in first place [removed]void(0);
    question I can see the writer must be big Linux user and hate windows that much?
    what you say about that, I’m sure lot will flame out for daring to talk up windows in any way!

    I do not feel that windows is perfect far from it
    it dose work way easer then Linux hands down.
    the writer makes it sound just to easy! [removed]void(0);rolleyes

    I’m not going to go into why I do not like the condescending Apple products looking down on us lower windows users,that in itself chaps my hide to no end [removed]void(0);
    cool grin this rant is about Linux and its complexities of use.

    if you want work around for windows office use open office its open source code and will work on Linux and windows,I use it myself get around windows high price and for free app. it works well.

    So what you all think?

    4. Posted by Henry Green  on  06/29  at  02:32 PM

  4. Whats wrong with open office and GNU, been using them for many years.....

    5. Posted by Edgar Acevedo  on  06/29  at  03:29 PM

  5. It is not for the actual present, but it looks very interesting for the mid term future the “ReactOs”.  Another attempt to run Windows Applications on other OS different from Microsoft Windows.  Visit the web page at:

    http://www.reactos.org/en/

    6. Posted by Orville Nolan  on  06/29  at  04:38 PM

  6. good job on the linux system

    7. Posted by Fady Elias  on  06/29  at  06:42 PM

  7. With that can I run application like messenger on Linux?!

    8. Posted by edlphotographics  on  06/29  at  06:43 PM

  8. HMM I guess I shouldn’t use open office or GIMP. They replace office and photoshop very easily. I gues it is better to spend $70 on this software.

    9. Posted by Joe V.  on  06/30  at  08:05 AM

  9. Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop don’t have Linux versions, but the free-software alternatives OpenOffice.org and The GIMP offer very similar functionality and run on both Linux and Windows.

    And in terms of Windows compatibility layers for Linux, don’t forget the commercial package Cedega, said to be an excellent choice for gamers.

    10. Posted by jeicrash  on  06/30  at  08:15 AM

  10. In a perfect world people would learn to use software that does what they need and costs nothing. However the open source world gets a bad rap simply because of its price. The old stereotype “You get what you pay for” Just doesn’t apply to the computer world in so many ways.

    Instead of trying to figure out how to use M$ office on linux, why not use one of the 20+ applications already capable of replacing office? Open/oxygen office works fine for me. In fact I have reproduced several documents and spreadsheets using Ooffice and no one knows the difference.

    However, linux will never get ahead in the internet market unless they come out with a usable flash/shockwave solution.

    11. Posted by Fred Yontz  on  07/01  at  10:47 AM

  11. In both your 06/29/08 “Winux? Windows on Linux - Tech Tips @ Geeks.com” newsletter and its web page version (at http://www.geeks.com/techtips/2008/techtips-29JUN08.htm), the first link for CrossOver Office, at the end of the paragraph “Faking it,” has a malformed URL: the link http://www,codewweavers.com/ has a comma instead of a period following “www” and that causes it to fail.

    In my Firefox 3.0 browser it is converted (mangled) into http://www.www,codewweavers.com/, and that’s a brick. Even doing what seems obvious, removing the first “www.” from the mangled URL doesn’t help, and one must have sharp eyes to recognize the comma in place of a period to get it right. (The second link to CrossOver Office, though, is correct and works.)

    12. Posted by Fred Yontz  on  07/01  at  11:19 AM

  12. Re Henry Green’s “Greetings Folks,”:

    Why do you feel it necessary to “waist” our time and a lot of blog space ranting about why you don’t like Linux and do like Windows?  Why should we care?  And what that’s constructive have you contributed to the discussion of running Windows programs under Linux?

    13. Page 1 of 1 pages

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