Linux Planet

Linux applications are gaining ground, but Windows applications still dominate. If you are like me, you still need to use Windows apps to work with files that other users need. Win4Lin let me have the benefits of Linux and Windows desktops at the same time. It is even possible to cut and paste between Windows and Linux applications.

Win4Lin is effectively a set of Windows device drivers plus support code that lets Windows run on top of Linux. This affords users two key benefits. First, Windows itself is not changed so compatibility is high. Second, performance is good because minimal translation is required between the Windows application and the Linux device drivers.

Win4Linýs interface is comparable to a remote control program. Windows runs in a Linux window. It can also run full screen. Windows applications run within this window. Linux applications run in their own window. Switching between windows is a matter of a mouse click or an Alt-TAB combination. Windows hot keys work when the main Windows window is active.

To read more of this tutorial, please visit Linux Planet.

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Linux World

Shortly after I wrote about Win4Lin a few weeks ago (see Resources for a link), I was bombarded with questions from readers asking how it compares to VMware. Win4Lin is a product that allows you to install and run Windows 95 or Windows 98 under Linux. With VMware, you can also install and run various other versions of Windows under Linux. (See Resources for links to both.)

They may sound similar, but I don't believe a comparison between the two is appropriate, at least not as the products stand. Currently, Win4Lin has one specific purpose: it provides a fast, stable Windows environment under Linux so that you can run Windows productivity applications without having to sacrifice Linux as your default environment. In contrast, VMware is a general-purpose virtual machine that, among other things, runs Windows productivity applications under Linux.

In other words, VMware goes way beyond the capabilities of Win4Lin. In addition to Windows 95 or Windows 98, you can run Windows 2000 in a virtual machine under the Linux host operating system. VMware is also available for Windows; with that version, you can run Linux in a virtual machine under Windows. You can also run other operating systems, such as FreeBSD, in the virtual machine. And you can run multiple virtual machines simultaneously.

To read more of this review, please visit Linux World.

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Win4Lin 3.0 is a Linux application that enables installation of the Microsoft Windows 95/98 operating system into a Linux environment. You can run popular Windows programs at native speeds without additional hardware or the need to dual boot. For this review, I decided to install and uninstall the full, boxed version and then install the free trial version to see if there was any difference in performance. The code performed the same in both situations.

Based in Austin, Texas, NeTraverse has come a long way for a one-year-old company. It provides software solutions that enable Windows applications to be hosted on the Linux platform. NeTraverse develops and markets a single- and multi-user software product suite: NeTraverse Win4Lin 3.0 and NeTraverse Server Standard Edition 1.0. The NeTraverse products use technology developed from Unix-based operating systems, notably SCO's Merge technology.

To read more of this review, please visit Unix Review.

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