using windows programs??

[Rosie]

I'm a design student, mainly web stuff.  So I'm using programs by both Macromedia and Adobe.  Can I use these on any of the Linux OS's?  
I've had a bit of a look around, but I can't work it out.  
Thanks

[Calum]

macromedia don't port most of their software to linux because they say there is no demand for that platform (though they will port their stuff for MacOS), and nobody mostly uses adobe and macromedia stuff in linux (thereby creating no demand) because they HAVENT been ported yet.

to run windows programs in linux you need an emulator of some sort.
wine is supposed to be okay, it's a windows emulator for linux,
win4lin is another similar project i think, though i haven't used it
lindows is an entire windows emulating linux distribution, althoutgh it costs and it is now 5 months late coming out and counting
VMware is a PC emulator for linux, it is also expensive though, plus you must install windows in your virtual machine once you get VMware running. This sounds like the best and most stable option, though it is the most expensive.

Or you could set up a dual boot.
You can dual boot with MacOS or windows, or any other OS, hardware dependent, and get the benefit of both worlds, so what have you got to lose?

[psyjax]

If your a design student you should be using a Mac anyway. Have you seen Photoshop 7 or Illustrator 10 on OSX!!!! OMG, why the hell anyone would want to run these things on macro$haft winblows is beyond me.

[ April 18, 2002: Message edited by: psyjax ]

[Calum]

given the choice (windows/macosx) i agree, but don't be such a mac purist!  

other OSs might not be geared towards that stuff right now, but they easily could be, and i bet there's some utilities you could get for non MacOS/Microsoft OSs.

it should be a mac though for a design student actually. Still, i reckon that mac should be dual booted with linux, just to get the best of both worlds!

[Rosie]

thanks for all the replies.
well, I already have photoshop 7 for windows and I know I can get PC's fairly cheaply as opposed to Mac's. so, getting one atm isn't really an option, maybe later.  
I had a look at Lindows, it looks good, so it could be an option except it wasn't out when I checked.  I also bought a booklet from the newsagency, I've been having a read of that and it came with something else (can't think of the name) that can run windows programs. so, I might give that a try.

[Calum]

it may have been VMWare.
While wine and wineX emulate windows and allow windows programs to be run (apparently!) VMWare emulates another computer, so you then need to install windows on your virtual computer, but it runs within a windows in linux. Expensive though, as you need to buy VMWare, and you also need to legally own windows (of course you probably already do.)

[sporkme]

ehhhhhh just dual boot it and then toy with phasing out windows completely

[sporkme]

if windows crashes in vmware, does it make a sound?

if a tree falls on bill gates in the woods, does anybody care?

really what if windows bombshells in vmware

[Calum]

well there are a few advantages of VMWare, it takes up less memory than a dual boot, since while it may think you have a 4Gig drive, if you only put 2 Gig of data on it, it will only take up 2 Gig on your REAL hard drive. Also, you can use windows and linux simultaneously, also, if windows crashes, it only crashes the virtual machine, and you do not need to reboot, because you are still in linux, just restart the program (which has not crashed, only windows crashes, not VMWare, as i am led to believe).

[ May 02, 2002: Message edited by: Calum ]