FC8: Wine vs dual-booting
 

Greetings all,

I have some development opportunities coming my way, and they require Microsoft platforms that, as you can imagine, aren't too friendly with Linux. So I'm wondering, what is the best way to get Microsoft things working on a Linux laptop? I could install WINE, to emulate Windows, or I could scrub my system and set up a dual-boot between XP and FC8. What's the best option? What have your experiences been? I look forward to your replies. Thanks in advance!

If you are doing windows development wine is not going to cut it. You might also consider using VMware. That way you could run full blown windows and still have Linux "in control".

I can vouch for that. VMserver is a great virtualising tool and is totaly free form Vmware. It will run any OS in a window for you ontop of your linux server so as long as you have a box with some spare resources you are okay. Otherwise it bogs you down a bit. Also if you go this route make sure you install the Vmware tools in the Virtulised box so its nice and smooth running instead of a choppy mouse control.

Thanks for the help. Now all I need to do is resolve my wireless difficulties and I'll be all set.

I agree with the sentiment that if you're doing work that requires Microsoft Windows to be in-control, you need to have that.

A virtualizer is a reasonable approach, but sometimes a dedicated computer is a better one. This is a classic situation where "you are interested in 'the results obtained,' not the means used to get them."