I'm a Win98 user. I do a lot of web and CD-ROM development, and use tools like Dreamweaver, Flash, Director, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, HomeSite, et al.

I'd like to try Linux, but will I get no benefit if I'm running Win with it so that I can use my apps?

I'm not sure I get the question... You can run Linux along side Windows and have a play with it, yet keep using your existing Windows system for your work until you wish to move some of them to Linux equivilents (where available)

Some clarification would be good!

Jamie...

I'm trying to figure out: Linux doesn't substitute for Windows, right?

To elaborate, if I want to use my favorite multimedia tools, I need to use them within Windows. Correct? I can't run my Windows version of Dreamweaver inside Linux because I'd have to be using a UNIX version of Dreamweaver. Have I got that right?

Is Windows still stable (I know: contradiction in terms...) if run in a dual partition alongside Linux?

Do I have to quit Linux in order to start a Windows "session(?)" when I need to do some work with my usual apps? Or, if I've decided that I like a particular Linux web browser and want to use that during a break from work, can I do the equivalent of ALT-TAB from Windows to get to Linux and browse, then quickly jump back into Windows (which is still open, with all of my apps open) and resume work?

Should I be putting all of this in the newbie section? 8-)

Thank you!

Right, well, kind of... In most cases it is possible to completely change to Linux but on a practicle level you might not want to as if you need to interoporate with Windows users you may have problems, also you might find yourself on a very steep learning curve!


Right, well, kind of - again... It is possible to run some Windows programs under Linux using WINE. WINE implements the Windows APIs under Linux so the Windows program can continue to work as usual. I've had varied sucess rates. Some programs work great, others fall straight over. Mind you I've only been playing with it out of curiosity, I'm sure there are others on the forum who have got it working more sucessfully as they've actually needed it. Getting the native UNIX/Linux versions is normally your best bet though.

I've never had any problems. So I'd have to say yes to this one.

To change properly from Linux to Windows or visa-versa you do need to reboot into the 'other' operating system. You can get programs like VMWare that can create a virtual machine into which you can install Linux or Windows (e.g. have VMWare running Linux under Windows or have VMWare running Windows under Linux) although I've never played with it. It seems to kind of spoil the idea of having a second OS by putting in a virtual machine. Clearly if you are using WINE then you can switch seamlessly between Windows and Linux apps.

Uhm... bit late now!! It may have been a more appropriate place but somelong as you get answers I don't think it matters that much. Clearly you wouldn't want to go asking programming questions in the network forum mind you!

HTH

Jamie...

The only thing that makes your windows system less reliable is teh action of partitioning/repartitioning. There is some potential for disaster if you're not careful about what you do. Once that is done the only real concern is that if you run as user 'root' you can do some nasty stuff to your windows partitition as the default mount options give the root user read/write access to the fat/vfat (Win) parts.

I'm not familiar with the apps you want to run, but you might be able to use them in WINE (Wine is Not an Emulator) or VMWare (which sets up a 'virtual windows machine' in your linux session. VMware uses considerable resources and you won't be running as fast/smooth as under native Win.

You should be able to use Wine for almost all of those apps. And to tell you the truth, for Photoshop, you might like the equivalent to that in the Linux world which is GIMP. I actually always used Photoshop but now in Linux, I prefer GIMP. Its just as powerful and almost just like Photoshop.

Emulators always have compromises. You get to run your apps, but more slowly, and an emulator tends to eat resources and slow the whole system down.
You'll be happier getting to know the native apps in Linux. There certainly is good multimedia Linux software - I point out that according to a WSJ article, Shrek was done with a Linux network. Multimedia has always been faster at embracing non-Windows solutions - Mac, SGI, etc.
Much of the time you will find that translators will be available to help move from format to format.
I suggest trying Linux, playing with GIMP and Star Office, and check out the multimedia open source software available.

I dont really know of any Linux apps which match dreamweaver or Flash. Does anyone?

As far as the graphics programs go then there are plenty of really good Linux progs, especially the GIMP.

Thanks all!
 

I bought Mandrake today and will be giving it a whirl this weekend. (Beat the heat with Linux!)

Cragstar raised a good point about Flash and Dreamweaver. I'll just start playing and see what I think over time!

Thanks for all the input!

WINE
 

I have tried out a few windows programs on wine and you will just have to try it to see if it will work, Just be warned that you should not mess around with your windows drive by mounting it in linux. I would put windows to use for wine on another partition and never mount the one you boot to windows. Some programs will install ok thru wine. Others may have to be installed in windows first.

MSOffice 97 works good for WinWord and Excel, but Visual basic may not work at all in them. I had it on RH 6.1 but have upgraded to 7.1 and did not try it yet. Office 4.3 will work too. even IExplorer but the last time I tried it the menus were messed up because of the draggable menu bars I guess. The right dll files could help.

MSN Messenger and Netmeeting work pretty good.

Old versions of AOL will work on TCP/IP connection.

Many others will work.

A lot of programs can be run directly by using gmc and just open the exe, type wine in the open with text box. The old winfile program that is still on the win95 cd works great too. You can tell it to just show programs and you can just browse executables with it easier, or use the console to show errors, most programs will have errors even though they work.

Enough said about windows, Linux is very strong in media apps, you should check it out. I think you can get an app for anything you need to do for Linux now...All free.

When you get it up check out tucows for tons of programs.

Everybody loves the Gimp!!