All --

In my case, I run an instance Windows 7 in VMWare so that I can use the best tools for the jobs at hand.

1. I compile Windows Versions of my Company's C-Programs via MinGW.

I installed a MinGW Cross-Compiler System on my ex-Slackware 13.37 Laptop and it worked very well ( better than MinGW on Windows because Native Linux Tools simply work better than MSys on Windows ).

However, it is much more effective for me to install MinGW + MSys on Windows, do my Development on the Linux-Side with Linux Tools on a SAMBA-Shared Directory, and then compile via MinGW on Win7 on the Mapped SAMBA Share.


2. We compile our Perl Scripts via the PDK so that our End-users don't have to install numerous perl modules and so that a single Perl script can be run on both Linux AND Windows.

I don't know ... maybe the PDK can cross-compile scripts from Linux to Windows and OSX ... Never checked because our Single PDK License includes Compilers for Linux, Windows and OSX.


3. Pertaining to #1 and #2, and most important of all, I've got to test the Software I write for our Customers running Windows.


4. My Company rents a Hosted Exchange Server ( not my choice but I can't change it either ).

We've got the Exchange OWA interface enabled so I can read emails in Firefox on Slackware.

And, I actually prefer Thunderbird to Outlook for reading email so I installed and tested DavMail ( https://slackbuilds.org/repository/1...search=davmail )

Thunderbird + Lightning over DavMail works pretty well to a point but it REALLY lags on huge mailboxes, even after all the initial downloads are complete.

All things considered, the Native MS Office Outlook Client is simply the best interface for me for Mail and Calendar on an Exchange Server.


5. Our Company uses GoTo Meeting to Support our Customers.

While I can run the GoTo Meeting Client in Alien's Chromium on Slackware 14.2, I have occasional odd problems hosting GoTo Meetings.

Hosting these Meetings is absolutely essential for me to do my job.


In my case, 'the best tools for the jobs at hand' are simply MinGW, PDK, Outlook and GoTo Meeting on Win7.

That's why I keep a VMWare instance of Win7 going on my Slackware Host

I am not sure what I'll do when Win7 goes EoL ( January 14, 2020 ).

Maybe MS will 'fix' the Privacy Issues with Win10 by then ( but I somehow doubt that ).

I've got a few years to figure it out.

Finally, I am not sure what I would do if I ever had to revert to a Dual-Boot approach.

That would be a HUGE regression ( due to the time it takes to boot ).

I am sure if that was the only solution available, I would learn to 'make do' with Pure-Linux Tools ( or maybe I would simply use RDesktop and a secondary System ).

But the VMWare approach gives me instant access to Windows -- it's simply another Window on KDE Desktop #6 for me.

And as Larry Wall famously said, 'there's more than one way to do it' ...

-- kjh

I understand.

When I got my current system it has Win 10 pre-installed.

I could not install Linux on it as a dual boot.

I had to reformat it in order in install Linux on it.

We have a TomTom GPS, which refuses to update when hooked up to a Linux system. TomTom simply does not and will not support Linux. I wonder if they were forced to promise that they wouldn't support Linux when Microsoft came after them and threatened them with (il)legal action if they didn't settle.

Anyway, relatives of ours use a Mac, with which the device can be updated. Which confirms that, technically, there's no reason why Linux could not be supported as well. What's more, if the update procedure were done properly, it would be web-based, and platform-independent, anyway.

Huh? Did they, then, really have any QA staff to begin with? :confused:

Most of the time, when I'm trying to open a document from MSWord on Libreoffice, the formattings are almost always off. Sometimes drastically. I've consigned myself to using the web version of MSOffice to open Word documents at home.

As for email, if your work only offers Exchange, I believe you're forced to use Outlook. But, in my case, it doesn't matter, because I am forced to use Microsoft products at work. We have limited accounts on the computers and do not have the ability to install software (can't even plug in USB drives or download executable files). Email access is only available within their internal network, so even if I could use a different client at home, I couldn't connect to their Exchange server.

At home, I keep a laptop with Windows installed to keep my wife happy. She's tolerates my geekiness as long is it doesn't affect her. Every other machine in the house is running Slackware. I've tried to get her to use Slackware, but she's pretty insistent she doesn't want to (just like she won't switch from her iPhone to an Android device). Maybe one of these days I'll convince her to switch, but I won't start a fight to do it. And it certainly isn't worth it to divorce her just so I can find a wife that likes Linux ;)

I'm in the same boat as you, but thankfully I also get a Linux machine (with 24 cores and 32 GB of RAM!) for doing real work. It's RHEL, but I guess that doesn't matter much because I don't get admin privileges on it anyway.

And I'm stuck with my dual core processor with 4GB of RAM (of which, 1GB is reserved for the onboard video). I am constantly maxing it out. I don't look forward to when they force Windows 10 on us... hopefully I can get a new computer before that happens (there's talk of switching me out to a laptop, but I have no idea on the timeframe or the specs of the laptop).

Have you got mutiple CPUs running simultaneously ?

If he's got a single CPU, I'm very jelly, since the only x86 cpu to my knowledge to have 24 cores is the Xeon E7 v4 8890. BEASTLY cpu there, I'd love to have a system with one.

Consider running Windows 10 within a VM.

I believe it's 6 CPUs x 4 cores/CPU. Honestly, I haven't really looked at the specs in detail at least in awhile, but I do know there are 24 cores total. It's definitely overkill as we do most CPU intensive stuff remotely anyway.

Either that or it's 6 cores and 4 threads per core (I may have gotten terms confused between CPUs, cores, and threads...) But 24 cores show up in the system monitor. I'll have to check this on Monday.

One word: Games.

Over the last few years, wine has drastically improved and very useful "forks" like wine-staging and wine-nine have emerged, so I can play a lot of games on Linux. But not all of them. Additionally, I sometimes have to tinker a lot and most of the time, the performance isn't as good as on Windows.

I also like MS Office a lot better than LibreOffice, but that works very well in Wine nowadays - so at least that's not an issue anymore.

And there is always Software that won't work on Linux. I needed to update my navigation system a few weeks ago and sometimes I order printouts of photos from a specific local provider. The applications for that only work on Windows.

Your right.

Linux Achilles heel is in the game area.

Most Linux games I have seen have been ports from Windows and none run full screen.

If it's an Intel, this is most likely the case.

That is weird since Windows 10 creates a 500M partition when it is first installed.

I think Google, Apple, and Cell phone companies, and the people who bought locked down smartphones/tablets can be thanked for this travesty. Microsoft is playing catch up with the spyware (commercial software is loaded with it) and draconian control of user devices. They've repeatedly failed at copying Apple and Google's success. When I first looked at Microsoft's privacy settings I had a case of deja-vu. I said to myself this looks like Android. People bought into these ecosystems. Windows store takes away features from video games and still sells them at a premium. http://bgr.com/2015/02/18/is-your-sm...spying-on-you/

The average consumer likes it this way. They like having to spend a fortune on a new tablet for a few more gigabytes when all they needed was one with a ssd drive. I can't get windows big updates on my laptop. I suspect lilo overwriting the mbr has something to do with it. I got tired of fooling with it so I went to services and disabled updates for the time being.