Question about running apps with ubuntu

[leviticusjonestown]

I have some games I'd like to run on Ubuntu so I was wondering which is the preferred method to run windows apps under ubuntu?

Vmware, virtual box, or wine?

Also if I do set up virtualbox out of my 3 gigs of ram how much could i dedicate to it without affecting ubuntu's performance?



-linucksn00b

[devils casper]

Post your machine's specs here. If you have latest Hardware and enough RAM ( you have mentioned 3Gig already ), go for Virtual box. Here is a tutorial on Virtualbox setup.

[Route]

VB works if you can afford it resource-wise, but that is it's primary flaw. WINE is the second best option, and it's a distant second. Sad reality is that a lot of proprietary software companies are not interested in linux compatibility... if it works in WINE it's a good thing, if not I VB it. I won't advocate software piracy (stealing IS wrong) but if you do have a legal windows I'd advise using a stripped down version in your VB, every little bit helps.

[leviticusjonestown]

Fell asleep.

Here are some specs DC -

# Processor Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 / 1.83 GHz
# Multi-Core Technology Dual-Core
# 64-bit Computing Yes
# Data Bus Speed 667.0 MHz
# Chipset Type Mobile Intel GM965 Express
Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

[leviticusjonestown]

VB works if you can afford it resource-wise, but that is it's primary flaw. WINE is the second best option, and it's a distant second. Sad reality is that a lot of proprietary software companies are not interested in linux compatibility... if it works in WINE it's a good thing, if not I VB it. I won't advocate software piracy (stealing IS wrong) but if you do have a legal windows I'd advise using a stripped down version in your VB, every little bit helps.

I have a legit copies of xp and vista.

When I run VB I see its GUI is user friendly, what are some settings I should use?
I'm wondering if I could allocate about half of 3 gigs of ram to it would ubuntu still perform well? I'm running compiz fusion.

Wine seems pretty good, and I do still have the installer packages, not just the executables. I don't know much about it so I've been looking at their forums for general advice to set it up for my purposes.

I ran some of my lightweight apps and they seemed ok, but when I ran a simple game it was slow. I'm wanting to run a few of the games I currently have for windows like Bioshock, COD4 and Manhunt 2.

Not a big gamer but I do like to play them occasionally and the aforementioned games take a bit of processing power.

On Wine's website they indicate good success running Bioshock and COD4 so it's a matter of configuring at this point.

Thank you and Devil's Casper for your feedback.

-linucksn00b

[kados]

to be honest, I'd partition out a chunk of the hard drive and dual boot windows and linux. If you have the gaming itch, just reboot into windows, that's what I do and it works great.

That's the bad thing about being a linux geek and a gamer, you almost have to have windows to play most games, they just don't play well in linux.

I have a 250 gig hd in my main game rig, I use 50 gig for linux and 200 gig for windows for my games, Neverwinter Nights 2, Dragon Age Origins, Battlefield 2, etc.

I also have a laptop I don't play games on that I dual boot with Mandriva One and Backtrack 4....backtrack I just play around with now and again to toy with the aircrack suite.

[leviticusjonestown]

Really don't play games much anymore, just like to know I still have the ability if I choose to. I haven't touched my PS3 in months but I was nerding out on Dragon Age. Sony released a new update in april that removes the otherOS function, so I definitely won't be updating anytime soon.

I have some other apps I'm interested in running too so those I listed are probably the most resource hungry.

Also experimenting with BT4. This really isn't the place to discuss, but it does use Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid as it's base. Just wondering if you've been able to crack wep yet. Your own network of course.

I am considering dual booting, but I'm really considering getting rid of windows entirely. Also working with 250gb and I know windows is wasting about 20gb of that. I should be able to afford either an external or a 640gb by the end of this month and stick the 250 in the PS3 along with my video files. Then dual booting would be a real likelihood for me, but will always get that feeling Microsoft is lurking over my shoulder.

In the meantime I'm still experimenting with VB and Wine.

Thank you for your response.

-linucksn00b

[kados]

yeah, I've cracked wep on my system on my router. there are tons of guides how to do it, but there is a script on backtrack 4 called wepbuster that does it all for you...don't bring your ethernet card up or anything before using it though.

[leviticusjonestown]

Nice!

I've been learning some of the scripts but wasn't aware of this one.

Thanks. I appreciate the tip.

-linucksn00b

[Route]

I honestly wish I could help you with the config for those, but I'm working on some classic technology at this point and wouldn't know where to start. I'm not surprised that those will run slowly in a VB, as it's got that extra layer of GUI underneath the system that you've got to support. (although it does run just about anything you'd run on windows now doesn't it) Unfortunately it'll gimp you a bit... I'm not an expert in doing things with wine but there are a number of how-to's out there that might help.

AS for wine, managing your games through Steam seems to be the best option... (that's right, after long years of development Steam is actually a solution to a problem rather than the source of new ones!) Bioshock is the WineHQ listing for Bioshock, COD4 looks like it is supported in steam as well (data=very old, 2 versions old), as for Manhunt 2 it looks playable enough considering it's a workaround, could use the data if you'd give it to them.

Linux, as yet, is still unfortunately barely scraping the world of games. Linux still seems to be stuck in a world where computers are used to do "real" work... like word processing, being a secure OS, and managing files. That's not to say it won't ever happen but it's not today's deal yet, then again in a world where OSX is unix based and runs the bash shell there may be more carryover in the future, when dev's decide to go cross platform. We'll see.