best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

brazzmonkey · 2006-08-25 08:08:00

hi everyone,
i plan on getting rid of my windows partitions. but that's big deal because i need to run a few (exotic) programs that are made for windows. i need to find a way to use them in linux, be it through a windows emulator or a computer emulator (or whatever).

please don't tell me to find linux equivalents to these programs i need to run, there's just nothing similar on linux.

on some of those programs i need audio to work.

so far i tried wine, qemu (with kqemu), and a combination of qemu and vmplayer (kind of "free" vmware).

my feelings are the following :

- wine improved A LOT during the past year (i really mean it), but my programs are a little buggy (at best). that does not make the usable for day to day use.

- qemu is sooooo slooooow it is barely usable. it took me 4 hours to get a working installation of windows xp (ok, i was multitasking, but still. for the first time ever my system swapped - could this be a memory leak ?)

- qemu + kqemu is toooo sloooooow as well (i suppose when they say near-native speed, it means 1/10 to 1/2 of native speed)... i've been very very disapointed.

- on qemu (and kqemu) i haven't tried the programs i need yet, the windows install process finished too late in the night...

- qemu + vmplayer : qemu is used to generate an image which is then used by vmplayer. i used this trick on gentoo once, and i can tell you this was the best solution i tried so far. usable speed, functional programs. but i didn't achieve to get the sound workind (might need a bit of tuning).

apart from those ones, do you know of usable solutions to get windows apps running on linux ? i need them to just works at reasonable speed, with audio, and, if possible, printing.

any tricks that could improve speed or compatibility are appreciated as well.

tia

alexpnx · 2006-08-25 12:19:33

well, those solutions you mentioned are just about all there is to it. i don't think there are other ways than those. personally i use wine or crossover office (based on wine) which has default configs for various windows apps you might want to install.

Husio · 2006-08-25 12:29:16

crossover office is nice if wine is not enought. Also cedega. And That's all

brazzmonkey · 2006-08-25 12:43:32

i don't feel trying cedega or crossoveroffice, because i don't want to pay until i'm sure it works.
windows applications are not usual stuff like office, explorer, whatever.
to give you an idea, the closest thing i've been able to find on linux is ESP-r. too bad, it worked on my gentoo but it doesn't on Arch (i suspect xorg 7.x being the culprit). in addition, this software seems powerful, but it looks like you cannot decently use it as long as you haven't been trained.
maybe i should try the demo version of crossover office...

brazzmonkey · 2006-08-25 12:47:41

anyone ever heard about win4lin ?

ralvez · 2006-08-25 13:06:48

Well ... if none of those other options will do then open your wallet and pic $200 and get VMWare workstation. That works.
I use it because I code ActionScript for Flash movies and there is no Flash development env. for Linux and it works very well.

Having said that I do not use it for nothing else, so I cannot attest to the performance of anything else

R

jerem · 2006-08-25 13:30:26

The *really best* way to run M$ apps on linux would be to use Xen
along with hardware-level-virtualization (Intel-VT / AMD Pacifica).

soloport · 2006-08-25 13:31:12

brazzmonkey wrote:

anyone ever heard about win4lin ?

Have been running win4lin on Arch for more than a year.

(Last hold-out: QuickBooks and Quicken.)

brazzmonkey · 2006-08-25 13:34:49

200 $ is very expensive to get a working windows... are there so many differences between vmware and vmplayer+qemu ? i don't really think so... but i'm probably wrong...

i don't need amazing performance, i just need something that allow me to work at decent speed (read : click and menu appears, not : click, wait 10" or more, enjoy the rendering process of the slowly appearing menu).

i can afford a 40 $ crossover office (if it really works), not a 200 $ software. at this price i'd better go back to windows...

tomk · 2006-08-25 13:38:57

VMware Server is free. I use it for one Windoze-only app, and it's fine. I haven't tried sound on it - no need - but next time I fire it up, I'll see if I can get it going.

sweiss · 2006-08-25 14:02:47

You can use the following with VMPlayer: http://www.easyvmx.com/

This is how I got myself a working Windows XP image ready to be launched.

brazzmonkey · 2006-08-25 19:43:04

tomk wrote:

VMware Server is free. I use it for one Windoze-only app, and it's fine. I haven't tried sound on it - no need - but next time I fire it up, I'll see if I can get it going.

this one is for server virtualization, right ? if so, i suppose vmplayer should be enough for me. i suppose i'm gonna use qemu + vmplayer once again. sounds like it's the best (free) compromise out there.
but i'm interested in knowing if sound works with vmware server.

tomk · 2006-08-25 21:28:21

brazzmonkey wrote:

this one is for server virtualization, right ?

I suppose so. I decided to disregard that completely, and so I run it on my laptop, for the one Windoze app that I still need. I needed it set up in a hurry, and I went for Server because it was free, and because my rushed research seemed to indicate that Player would only work with images generated by one of their paid-for products. Clearly, I was wrong, but it's all set up now, so I'll leave it.

I'll let you know about the sound.

iphitus · 2006-08-25 23:37:34

vmware-server isnt 'for server emulation' but that can be one of it's uses.

vmware player doesnt allow you to create vm's. vmware server does. vmware server is able to do *almost* anything that vmware desktop can do. It's got the added benefit that if X crashes, or you close the frontend X app, the vm's still keep running on the daemon.

So it could be considered to be oriented towards usage for servers - I myself ran a openbsd server on it for a while. -- but it doesnt have to be used for that, and I use it for testing other distros, and I have Win XP installed to an image too.

vmware server does support sound, and im pretty sure you can make images that will work in vmplayer.

James

brazzmonkey · 2006-08-26 08:11:52

i appreciate your feedback.

Insane-Boy · 2006-08-26 09:10:48

fat32 part with win98 ;D

brazzmonkey · 2006-08-26 09:49:42

i already have a dual boot.
as i stated in the very first post of this thread, my aim is to get rid of windows partitions...

brazzmonkey · 2006-08-29 22:54:01

just to let you know that sounds works fine with vmware-server.

brazzmonkey · 2006-08-29 23:12:45

this software is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING !!! once vmware-tools is installed, windows runs at native speed !!
very very high quality software.but only free as in free beer. still, i'm impressed.

somairotevoli · 2006-08-30 04:01:25

I use vmware-workstation for free. I do this by requesting a free trial license every 30 days.

brazzmonkey · 2006-08-30 07:46:01

somairotevoli wrote:

I use vmware-workstation for free. I do this by requesting a free trial license every 30 days.

what is it vmware-workstation offers that vmware-server doesn't have ? vmware's website is made in such a way i cannot directly compare these products.

Arch Linux

#1 2006-08-25 08:08:00

best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#2 2006-08-25 12:19:33

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#3 2006-08-25 12:29:16

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#4 2006-08-25 12:43:32

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#5 2006-08-25 12:47:41

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#6 2006-08-25 13:06:48

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#7 2006-08-25 13:30:26

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#8 2006-08-25 13:31:12

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#9 2006-08-25 13:34:49

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#10 2006-08-25 13:38:57

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#11 2006-08-25 14:02:47

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#12 2006-08-25 19:43:04

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#13 2006-08-25 21:28:21

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#14 2006-08-25 23:37:34

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#15 2006-08-26 08:11:52

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#16 2006-08-26 09:10:48

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#17 2006-08-26 09:49:42

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#18 2006-08-29 22:54:01

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#19 2006-08-29 23:12:45

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#20 2006-08-30 04:01:25

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

#21 2006-08-30 07:46:01

Re: best way to run M$ windows apps on linux ?

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