Pure L wrote:Just wondering if anyone has tried installing Ubuntu "on top of" XP?

(Not a dual-boot situation)
...
Maybe Parallels would be a better idea?

Running Linux-within-Windows is not a new idea. "WinLinux" has been around since at least the year 2000, but I for one fail to see the point of it.

Not for the reason of having to wait through 2 bootups though. That's really not that big a deal from a Windows perspective, because Linux boots very quickly compared to Windows (starting up Photoshop in Windows takes about twice as long as my entire Linux boot procedure from power-on to login prompt). I'd think the more significant factor would be the greater latency/lag of running another OS in virtualization under a hog like Windows, and then running applications inside of that.

As for your question, I'd say that yes, a dual/parallel boot system would be far more efficient than any WinLinux implementation.

If you want the capability of running software native to both OSs at the same time, why not just run Linux and launch your Windows apps using Wine? Wine is pretty well compatible these days with most Windows apps. Even sophisticated programs like Flash, Photoshop, AutoCAD and the MS Office Suite plus many games run great under Wine.

However, if you're interested in trying out a particular flavor of Linux, why not just download that distro's "Live CD" image, burn it to a CD, then boot from that into the "test-drive" option? Ubuntu and most other major Linux distros (as well as FreeBSD and OpenBSD) offer ready-to-burn Live CD images on their websites. These CDs are great for checking compatibility and getting a feel for the OS. You'll have an almost 100% fully-functional desktop OS (including Internet access) with all included software. The only difference between the LiveCD test version and the full installation is that you won't be able to add new programs or save stuff on the hard drive. If you like the OS, you can install it by clicking the desktop icon labeled "Install."

Best part is, you can try out a shit-ton of distros without the trouble of installing or making any changes to your computer's existing OS. Then you can decide which OS is best for you and your system and install it at the meager price of a few CDs (or a single CD-RW).

Colonel Panic wrote:
If you want the capability of running software native to both OSs at the same time, why not just run Linux and launch your Windows apps using Wine? Wine is pretty well compatible these days with most Windows apps. Even sophisticated programs like Flash, Photoshop, AutoCAD and the MS Office Suite plus many games run great under Wine.

That sounds pretty great actually.

Here's one for you though:

How about cracked programs with Wine? Old one's at that.

I still use a really old copy of Photoshop CS (the first one). It's a crack.

Do you know the method of cracking they used?

Has the executable been modified, or was it cracked via a registry hack?

You could always try installing and running it in Linux under Wine. If it doesn't work then just open a console and type:


to list all the processes running on your machine.

You'll see a list that looks something like this:



Look for "Wine" or "photoshop.exe" then look at its PID (process ID number) in the column on the far left.

Then KILL the process by typing:



In the worst-case scenario, running a bad Win32 executable under Wine may cause your system to lock up. In that case, just restart your machine and uninstall the program after you've restarted.

I am not having the cracked photoshop, but i can confirm this old photoshop program I have, she runs under wine so you can give her try, why not?

many years ago, I try to make linux live CD with microsoft word and powerpoint already installed and running under wine. "Ha-ha!" I say, "look at such a parlour trick!" No one is impressed so I give this up.

Pure L wrote:Just wondering if anyone has tried installing Ubuntu "on top of" XP?

(Not a dual-boot situation)

See here:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/virtualbox

Under the cons it says:

"Every time you want to use Ubuntu, you have to wait for two boot times (the time it takes to boot Windows, and then the time it takes to boot Ubuntu within Windows)."

I can't tell if that means you can use Ubuntu in its own window or not.

Maybe Parallels would be a better idea?

I run XP Pro on a virtualbox in Ubuntu Gutsy (the opposite of above). It works REALLY well - better than XP booting on it's own. This could be attributed to the lack of anit-virus, ect. I only use it to run Adobe apps and the test webpages, so I don't really need any protection. Alongside Ubuntu's multiple desktops it work really well. It's a pretty cool app, check it out if you can.

Yes, you can use both OS' simultaneously - move the cursor out of the "box" and you are back in Linux. It's that easy. Of course you have to wait for the virtualbox OS to boot, but it's nothing to complain about. It should be expected.

I would suggest a fair amount of memory. I'm running 3GB on my Thinkpad, so I can allocate half of that to XP and run whatever I want. 1GB might be too little (depending on what you are running). The great thing about VB is that the memory you allocate is not immediately dedicated. It is used by VitrtualBox as needed.

It says Virtualbox is made by a company called "Innotech".

I wonder if these guys were on the development team:



Apparently, this company also just got bought by Sun Microsystems.

I have a question - this is for Mac and Linux geeks. I have a 350mhz PowerPC G4 tower with a total 1GB ram and 10GB of hard drive space (yes - you read that right). I'm trying to think of any use of this machine other than a boat anchor.

Have any of you installed Linux on one of these machines? Is it even worth the effort? What about upgrading to the latest version of OSX?

Pure L wrote:

Colonel Panic wrote:
If you want the capability of running software native to both OSs at the same time, why not just run Linux and launch your Windows apps using Wine? Wine is pretty well compatible these days with most Windows apps. Even sophisticated programs like Flash, Photoshop, AutoCAD and the MS Office Suite plus many games run great under Wine.

That sounds pretty great actually.

Here's one for you though:

How about cracked programs with Wine? Old one's at that.

I still use a really old copy of Photoshop CS (the first one). It's a crack.

You could try it with wine. What are you using photshop for mainly? Have you ever tried Gimp?

Bumping this thread from a Puppy Linux session running in RAM, with the bcm43xx wireless module loaded and working with WPA encryption.

Linux has come a long way since the start of this thread. Pretty neat.

WOW. I could never get my Broadcom WiFi adapter to work under Kubuntu 7.04 (Feisty) or 7.10 (Gutsy).

Did you use ndiswrapper and the bcm43xx-fwcutter package?