INSTALLING THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE

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rlindsey0

Re: INSTALLING THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE

Post by rlindsey0 »

Some Windows apps can be used under WINE (http://www.winehq.org) on Linux, but not all, and not always with perfect compatibility. You should go to the WINE site and see what they say about specific versions of specific Windows apps. You don't even need a valid copy of Windows to run programs under WINE, because you're not technically running Windows, just a program that can install and run (some) Windows apps.

Another option is to dual-boot your machine--that is, leave your Windows install on there but shrink its partition and install Mint on new partitions in the freed-up space. You can even make a dedicated data partition (preferably partitioned as NTFS) that can be accessed from either the Linux side or the Windows side. This works fine for me, though I'm no expert. You could start by using Mint for your day-to-day stuff (e.g., Web browsing, word processing) and boot into Windows for your work. Then, you can gradually start looking into whether you can start shifting more and more of your work from Windows onto Mint. This way you don't have to make the switch all at once.

The third option I hear about, though I've never done it, is to install Linux and then use VirtualBox or something similar to create a "virtual machine" within the Linux install, into which you then install Windows and your Windows applications. You do need a valid copy of Windows for this, because you are actually running Windows ... just on a virtual machine rather than a "regular" one.

There are tutorials for all these things, if you decide you want to explore these options.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
viking777

Re: INSTALLING THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE

Post by viking777 »

rlindsey0 has pretty well set out the options there. The only thing that I would add is an order in which to try things. Start out with a dual boot - your apps are then guaranteed to work. Whilst you have the dual boot going, experiment with the likes of Virtualbox and see if that works for you. Later on try Wine, if the apps you require are mainstream windows apps then Wine might work and will probably be better than Virtualbox. If they aren't mainstream then Wine will almost certainly be a waste of time.
I speak from experience.
Fred

Re: INSTALLING THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE

Post by Fred »

keli wrote:
... please try to work on the third party software integration, its very important.
I believe the old saying is, "You are preaching to the choir." It is a slow painful process to convince proprietary software companies to port their applications to Linux. But it is happening, slowly but surely. Call/write/email Adobe and express those sentiments. It will do a lot more good there than here.

I know there are some situations that you just can't get out of but don't short change native Linux programs. Many are not only as good as, but better than their proprietary counterparts. They just don't have the marketing behind them that a company like Adobe has. :-)

Fred
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