For many of us who use Linux as our main operating system, there are still some Windows based applications that we just can't seem to live without. One answer is to dual boot with Windows, which requires having to reboot into the other operating system every time you need to use a Windows application. Plus, you also have a system that still needs to be guarded against viruses, spyware, Trojans, worms and other types of malware.

The other answer is to use programs designed to run Windows applications or even Windows itself, on Linux. Whether you want to run Windows games or productivity software on Linux, I hope you will find this article useful.

Wine

 One alternative is Wine. Wine is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API (Application Programming Interfaces ) on top of X, OpenGL, and Unix. It is free software. Later on I will be adding more about Wine after thoroughly testing the latest version which is 0.9.60, at the time of this writing. Currently, binary packages for Linux Red Hat, Mandriva, SUSE, Slackware and FreeBSD are available. The homepage for Wine is at:  http://www.winehq.org/

Codeweavers Crossover Linux

 Another great alternative is Crossover Linux, which I have been using for quite some time now. It is not free software. The Standard version is $38.95 and the Professional version is $69.85. Crossover Linux is actually Wine based. It runs many Windows applications with no need for rebooting and certainly does not require a licensed copy of a Windows operating system. Unfortunately, it will not run all Windows applications such as QuickBooks 2008, yet. Most of the applications will run just as fast , if not faster than if they were installed in Windows.

Installing Crossover Linux is very easy. The Loki installer is a universal installer that should work with any distribution of Linux. There are also installers for Debian and Red Hat based distros, along with Xandros and Linspire.  To install using the Loki installer, just open up a terminal and "cd " to the directory that contains the installer. Then as user (not root)  type "sh install-crossover-standard-x.x.x.sh" (without quotes) and hit enter. The installer launches and all you have to do is follow the instructions.

Win4Lin

Win4Lin is a virtual machine emulator that is installed on your Linux partition. It has several advantages and disadvantages, too. First of all, you have to have a licensed copy of 2000 or Win XP to run as the guest operating system. Win4Lin currently sells from $29.99 to $59.99, depending on what edition you choose, so it is not free software. Also, you should have at least 20 to 30 gigs of free space on your hard drive to accommodate the install and backup image.

 Some disadvantages are that Win4Lin is not a gaming platform and does not support 3D/DirectX. Windows will not run as fast as a virtual machine as it does in its own native partition Also, Windows Vista is not supported at this time. However, there are some real advantages to using Win4Lin. It was one way for me to run Quickbooks 2008 on a Linux machine without dual booting. Linux files can be shared through the Home On Host feature and working between the two operating systems can be done on the same desktop.

Now, there are some things that do not impress me about Win4Lin at all. Installation of a guest operating system such as Win XP goes rather slow. The actual console or window size is barely adequate to work in and full screen mode can only be used without the Linux desktop environment running. Overall, the performance of XP is rather slow on startup and in opening programs and USB thumb drives are not accessible.

 Some other advantages to using Win4Lin is that Windows is far safer from viruses and other malware threats in a Linux environment. When Windows becomes too corrupted to be used, it is a simple matter to replace it with a backup image, right from the terminal. Of course, this depends on your backing up the image from time to time. Overall, it does fulfill my needs at this time. For more information about Win4Lin, you can go to http://win4lin.net/content/

Note: For Slackware and Slackware based distros, Win4Lin is only offered with the Debian  and Red Hat packages only. You will have to use the  RPM package with the --nodeps option like so, " rpm -i --nodeps package.rpm" . (Without quotes and package is the name and version that you are installing.)