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Many of us love using Linux as our primary operating system for many different reasons. Linux runs more efficiently than Windows, is stable and is easily customizable. Linux does many things that Windows has difficulty performing or canıt do at all. This has helped to make Linux a power platform for personal machines and servers. Yet all Linux users know that due to Microsoftıs iron grip on the program market it is hard to run all the programs that you would like to on your Linux machine. This leads to the use of more than one computer or partitioning of hard drives to run both operating systems. In both cases Linux users must still rely on Windows in some way. This is about to change though.

Over the last several years programs, such as VMware and Win4Lin, have been introduced into the market allowing us to run programs designed for Windows within Linux. The only problem was that they seemed to crash more than Windows, only run Windows or cost a lot more than we were willing to pay.

NeTraverse however has released Win4Lin 3.0. Win4Lin 3.0 enables Linux users to run popular Windows programs without additional hardware or the need to dual boot. Win4Lin provides the Linux user with an inexpensive way to run programs designed for Windows within Linux. I went ahead and compiled this resource page about Win4Lin 3.0 but I did include a few links about VMware. I have used VMware for some time and think that it is a good program the only problem is its price. I have been lucky enough to have it provided for me at work. If you have the money this is also an exceptional program that you can use to emulate Windows.

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Win4Lin is a highly efficient product for delivering Windows application support on the Linux operating system. It is derived from a proven technology developed over the last 15 years for UNIX based operating systems, most notably those of SCO, under the name of Merge. With Win4Lin, users boot Windows 95/98 as an application running under the X Window System on Linux. By utilizing the robust services of Linux, Windows performs remarkably well, with increased stability and security. Executing Windows in the application space of Linux helps protect the system from Windows application failures. Layering Windows over the Linux filesystem and networking facilities enhances performance, robustness, and security.

Win4Lin ships in both a desktop and a server product package. The desktop package is geared to the support of a single user who uses Linux as their primary environment but still requires access to critical Windows applications not available natively on Linux. Examples of such applications today are Microsoft Office, Intuit Quicken, Lotus Notes, and Adobe Photoshop. Windows can be run within a window on the Linux desktop or in full screen mode on a separate virtual terminal. The server package enables the use of Linux to deliver Windows application services over a network. The Linux server executes the Windows applications under Win4Lin and uses the remote display capabilities of the X Window System to display applications on the users' desktops. The Win4Lin server package provides a very cost effective solution to delivering Windows application services relative to Windows NT/2000 and Citrix.

To read more of the Win4Lin Whitepaper, please visit neTraverse.

For an overview of Win4Lin, please visit neTraverse.

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Toms Hardware

Tomıs Hardware has put together a wonderful review of Win4Lin. This review contains an overview of Win4Lin, how to install it and a brief tutorial on how to use it.

As an operating system, Linux is ready to use. The main problems for Linux continue to be the lack of applications and driver support. In this article and the ones that follow, I will be looking into some solutions to the first problem, the current lack of applications; however, the driver issue deserves a brief comment.

If you are thinking of trying Linux, you should be aware that Linux does not support all PC hardware. Although some companies recognize Linux and provide driver support, others do not. The level of support depends on your hardware vendor. As demonstrated here, Nvidia is already producing high quality drivers for Linux, but if you have specialty hardware, you may find that it is not supported. Thanks to the efforts of the Linux community, much of the popular PC hardware is now supported. However, it is probably a good idea to check the hardware compatibility list for your distribution. For example, Red Hat has a database of supported hardware for their latest distribution at hardware.redhat.com. If you are thinking of buying a computer to run Linux, you might want to go with one of the several PC vendors who sell computers with Linux pre-installed. On the other hand, if you want to find out if Linux will run on your current hardware, I suggest you just download the free ISO images for your distribution of choice and give it a try.

To read more of this tutorial, please visit Toms Hardware.