linux emulator

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#1

I apologize if this is not the right place to ask, but I really don’t want to create another account on some linux site to ask just one question. So here it is:

I recently bought a new laptop, it came with Windows Vista. Which is good for me, because in general, windows is best for me now simply because of its software, which I’m sure is going to bring much critisicism. When I got my new laptop, I gave my old Pentium 4 dual-booting XP/Mint to a local charity which needs it more than I. So now I don’t have any access to Linux right now. I used the video-editing software (cinelarra, kino, etc.) extensively on Linux. And so I’m looking for a free Linux emulator that will allow me to use Linux software in/with Windows Vista. Hard drive partitioning is really not an option right now. So any suggestions? And is there any detail I left out?

PS. I may not respond for quite a while, our internet access is having problems.

#2

Don’t know much about other distros, but I have heard wubi is good, if you want to try Ubuntu - which I guess might not be too much different from Mint

http://wubi-installer.org/

#3

Thanks organic! I probably will try that, I know that Mint is a derivative of Ubuntu so, it may not be too different. Or perhaps I could check on the newest version of Mint and see if it has support for this, can anyone tell me now before I try a 700mb download? Thanks!

#4

I have Mint installed on a laptop. The only thing that is different is the lack of a Windows start menu type thing that Mint has, and some Mint specific apps (mint update, etc.) Honestly, it wasn’t that much of a difference to me.

As organic mentioned, one option is Wubi. This will give you an Ubuntu installation without partitioning your hdd. Another option is a virtual machine, such as Virtual Box. http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads This will allow you to run another OS inside your current one, so you can use Windows and Linux apps side by side.

#5

Thanks for the links! I dislike Ubuntu, so I didn’t really want to do the wubi, so I looked into VirtualBox. And I like virtualbox! I just downloaded it, installed Mint, and it work’s great! It even works better on virtualbox than it did on my old Pentium 4. It runs all the programs I need, and I am content. Thanks guys! I wonder how I never came across it before.

Maybe I’ll also try FreeBSD and OpenSolaris, since virtualbox seems capable of running them.

#6

Many laptops these days have the ability to boot from external devices. (They’ll have USB 2.0, and they’ve probably also got FireWire, masquerading as a digital camera interface.)

If your laptop can do this, simply set up a Linux configuration on such a drive.

#7

I feel kinda dumb for forgetting about booting from a usb drive. Yeah, my laptop has usb and firewire. I haven’t checked the BIOS, but it probably can boot from either. I might do that sometime (need a bigger usb drive), but for now, virtualbox is enough.

#8

VirtualBox is working fine, but when trying to run Windows and VirtualBox side by side, it is quite a slowdown. So I tried Wubi, and I’m quite impressed, very fast startup and just excellent speed in general. I prefer Mint or Fedora over Ubuntu, but I’m downloading Ubuntu 64 right now with the aim of using Wubi to install it. I will use Vista primarily, but I’m going to use Ubuntu 64 for a lot of my work. I use a lot of video editing (as a hobby), and I use a lot of sound editing (as my actual work). And on Linux I will have a lot of free software to choose from, since I cannot afford any commercial software.

Note: I also downloaded the newest version of Mint (took many many hours), and it seems to have wubi also, quite cool. But it refuses to install on my computer for some reason. :frowning:

#9

How can you dislike Ubuntu when Mint practically IS still Ubuntu? The only thing I noticed that was different was the Mint branded apps (which I didn’t use, I preferred to just use Synaptic itself) and the ‘start’ menu, which IIRC, is a modified version of Suse’s Slab. I’m sure you could find the source somewhere, and just build the menu on Ubuntu. Yep, it’s possible. Here’s the link: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=621000

#10

I just dislike Ubuntu, I’m not quite sure why. But once I get a dislike for something, it is really hard to dislodge me from that position. (I prefer Synaptic too) I don’t really see the point of a Mint start menu, when it’s still Ubuntu.

#11

If you want to try a usb install have a look here. You can run both Ubuntu and Windows simultaneously. I tested on a college computer and it runs fine, there was very little perceived slowdown, though the Ubuntu takes a while to start up - and if you really don’t like Ubuntu I am pretty sure you can run other systems the same way.

#12

It’s the brown isn’t it, mint green is much better. :slight_smile:

I was going to suggest Virtualbox too, I use it the other way round Win XP on Linux for the windows soft that won’t work with wine and can’t get a Linux equivalent.

VirtualBox works well.

#13

I have virtualbox, but it is just too slow. So I’ve given up and tried Wubi. It works fairly well, better start-up time than Vista. I’ll try this for a couple days.

Edit: It’s pretty even with Vista, except it doesn’t like my webcam. And it’s internet/download speeds absolutely stomp Vista.

Edit again: I’ve spent most of the day on it, and I think that it will be sufficient. So I’m gonna install Ubuntu 64 with Wubi (and uninstall ubuntu 32).