Run Linux On Windows Xp
However, I am going to introduce “virtualization” which is a fancy term for running Linux like any other program in Windows. The following article will guide you through the process of setting up Linux so you can run it like any other program in Windows. Installing Linux Mint on a Windows 8.x PC with Secure Boot on can be a pain, but on an XP system it's easy. So, if you're considering switching out XP for Linux Mint, here's how you'd go about it. Running Windows XP programs on Linux Mint with CrossOver. Thanks to WINE and its commercial big brother, CrossOver, you can run some popular Windows programs on Linux.
Run Windows Software On Linux
Windows XP is officially retired as of April 8, 2014. Killer instinct video game movie release date. Microsoft has tried to retire XP several times before, but due to enterprise customer demand had to continue supporting it. But this time they really really mean it, for reals.
If you’re using Windows XP, it won’t stop working. All this means is you won’t get security patches or technical support anymore. So what should you do? You can continue using it, as you always have. Or, you can upgrade to Windows 8.1, the newest Windows, or Windows 7. Or switch to Linux. Let’s look at the pros and cons of upgrading to a newer Windows.
Linux has come a long way, but you may still need to run Windows applications occasionally – especially Windows-only PC games. Luckily, there are quite a few ways to run Windows applications on Linux. Of course, before you try to run an old Windows program, you should look. Jun 25, 2017 A Windows virtual machine allows us to run a complete Windows installation on Linux or Windows. It will have full support for Windows software, and can also recognize peripheral devices. In this guide, we will create a Windows virtual machine in Linux Mint, Ubuntu, and Windows, using both VirtualBox and the free VMware Workstation Player. Apr 08, 2014 For example, Web browsers such as Firefox, Opera, and Chrome run on Windows and Linux. Productivity apps like Moneydance (personal finance), LibreOffice (office suite), Thunderbird (email) and a lot of games run on Windows and Linux. Windows apps like Outlook, Internet Explorer and MS Office do not run on Linux.
Windows 8.1 has a completely re-designed interface that looks a lot like an over-excited automated teller machine. It adds support for touchscreens, and is supposed to be less obese and peppier than 7. Windows 7 does not support touchscreens, and doesn’t look much different from XP. If you buy a new computer that comes with 8.1 and decide you don’t like it, you can “downgrade” to Windows 7. Downgrading is a huge hassle that requires having the proper “license rights”, the purchase of Windows 7 Professional at $139 for the OEM version, or $209 for the full retail version, phoning home to Microsoft for permission to do what you want with your own computer, and then installing it. The OEM version comes with no technical support; otherwise it’s pretty much the same as the full retail version. Microsoft considers this a temporary downgrade, until you come to your senses and learn to love 8.1.
Another option is to purchase Windows 8.1 or 7 and install it on your XP computer. If your XP machine is more than six years old, chances are it won’t support the newer Windows releases, because they need considerably more power and storage. Your favorite XP applications may or may not work on the newer Windowses, if you even still have the original installation media, and peripherals such as scanners and printers may not be supported. So the most likely scenario is buying a whole new computer, and possibly new applications and peripherals. You can still get Win 7 PCs, though that option is slowly evaporating.
Try Linux
Any option other than keeping your existing Windows XP system is going to cost money, hassles, or both. So why not give Linux a try? It is a mature, rock-solid professional computing platform you can rely on. You can download it for free, copy it to a USB stick or DVD, and try it without installing it to your hard drive. If there is enough room on your hard drive, you can install Linux alongside XP and choose the one you want to run at boot. If your XP computer is powerful enough and you have your original installation media, you can run XP inside a virtual machine on Linux. Yes, you can have it all.
Let’s run through the pros and cons of switching to Linux. First the good parts:
- Immune to Windows malware, and you don’t need anti-malware software
- Offers both free of cost and supported options
- Runs great on older, less-powerful hardware
- No insane license restrictions
- No artificially crippled versions to justify multiple price points
- No phoning home to the mothership for permission to use your own computer the way you want to
- Flexible and configurable
- Easy one-click software installation and removal, from secure sources
- Great hardware support, without having to hunt down drivers
- A giant world of great software for free, and lots of great commercial software
- Maintained by an open, global community of first-rate developers and contributors
- All Linux software is available on the Internet, so you never lose it.
There are also some downsides you must take into account. Your Windows applications won’t run on Linux, unless they also have Linux versions. For example, Web browsers such as Firefox, Opera, and Chrome run on Windows and Linux. Productivity apps like Moneydance (personal finance), LibreOffice (office suite), Thunderbird (email) and a lot of games run on Windows and Linux. Windows apps like Outlook, Internet Explorer and MS Office do not run on Linux. So you’ll need to make an inventory of the apps you need and see if they have Linux versions, or if there is an equivalent you can use. I’ll be surprised if you can’t find equivalent or better alternatives.
You can make Linux look like Windows. You’re still going to have to learn some new ways of doing thing, but as it’s all just pointy-clicky it’s no big deal. Windows 7 is different from XP, and Windows 8.1 is radically different, so any change means you’ll have to learn some new things.
Buying a Linux Computer
Installing Linux is pretty easy, but if you’d rather buy a good computer with Linux already installed there are a lot of great independent Linux computer vendors. They are skilled specialists, and you’ll get good hardware and great service. The typical low-budget Windows PC is specced to the micro-penny, and built with the cheapest possible components. Linux shops like System76 and ZaReason engineer their computers with reliable, good-quality components, and they stand behind their products.
Which Linux?
Another Linux advantage is hundreds of variants called distributions, or distros for short. Every one is tailored a little bit differently. Ubuntu Linux is very popular, and offers both free-of-cost downloads, and commercial support options. Linux Mint is a popular Ubuntu variant. openSUSE and Fedora Linux are great distros for advanced users who like to stay on top of new technologies. Mageia Linux is a wonderful desktop Linux for beginners to advanced users. Please visit the Resources section (below) for pointers to all kinds of helpful information.
The Myth That Must Die
I am not a Windows fan. I’ve worked exclusively in Linux since the early 2000s, except for occasional forays into Windows to keep up with new developments. I’ve written books, hundreds of how-to articles, done Web development, and all of my multimedia production on Linux. You’d think the richest software company on the planet would be able to make a bulletproof, secure, easy-to-use operating system. They have failed at this, and are still failing. One of my biggest peeves is that Microsoft’s marketing created the false illusion that personal computers are easy to use, and require no special training. This is not true. It has never been true. A personal computer is an extremely complex and sophisticated power tool. Just owning a computer does not magically bestow all manner of skills on you. It does not make you into an accountant, publisher, artist, musician, big data analyst, security expert, writer, scientist, or anything at all. Except perhaps befuddled a lot. Windows is not easy. Linux is many times easier to operate and maintain, and many times less restrictive.
You Might Want Android
If all you really need is a nice little portable device for Web surfing, social media, email, reading books, listening to music, playing games, and watching movies then get an Android tablet. Android is a Linux variant, but stripped-down and simplified. You literally poke it with a finger to operate it. ZaReason has a really nice 9.7″ tablet, the ZaTab, that is completely open, and not locked down like so many Android devices. Android is also coming to laptops and desktops, so keep an eye on the market to watch for something that might work for you.
The bottom line is that any change away from Windows XP is going to involve expense and a learning curve, so why not consider leaving Windows-land, and investing your time and money in the solid, reliable Linux world? App like discord for business.
Resources
Weekend Project: Linux For Beginners
Ubuntu Unleashed is the best Linux book for beginners
Ubuntu Linux
Linux Mint
Mageia Linux
Fedora Linux
openSUSE
Cynthia Harvey has a large and excellent body of articles on Linux and open source replacements for Windows applications.
Linux has come a long way, but you may still need to run Windows applications occasionally – especially Windows-only PC games. Luckily, there are quite a few ways to run Windows applications on Linux.
Of course, before you try to run an old Windows program, you should look or alternatives that run natively on Linux. You’ll have a better experience if you can find a decent alternative that runs without any fiddling.
Use Wine
Wine is a compatibility layer that allows Windows applications to run on Linux. It’s basically an implementation of the Windows API on Linux. Of course, Microsoft doesn’t publish all the information we need to re-implement the Windows API from scratch, so Wine has to be reverse-engineered. While it works amazingly well given how little Microsoft has given us to worth with, it’s nowhere near perfect.
To run an application in Wine, you can install Wine and use it to launch an installer’s .exe file. Before you do, you should take a look at the Wine Application Database website, which will tell you how well an application runs in Wine. Wine is frequently used for games, as games are the one type of software that can’t run in a virtual machine. While Wine can be used to run desktop applications like Photoshop and Microsoft Word, these will run flawlessly in a virtual machine (see below).
You can also try using an application like PlayOnLinux, which helps automate the process of installing supported games and other software in Wine.
The Netflix Desktop app uses a patched version of Wine to run Netflix on Linux – Silverlight doesn’t work properly with the current version of Wine.
Run Windows in a Virtual Machine
While Wine may have bugs or crashes when installing applications, a virtual machine will be able to run those desktop applications just fine. Install Windows in a virtual machine program like VirtualBox, VMware Player, or KVM and you’ll have Windows running in a window. You can install windows software in the virtual machine and run it on your Linux desktop.
Virtual machines introduce some overhead, but with today’s fast CPUs, running many types of software in a virtual machine shouldn’t be a problem. This is especially true after you’ve tweaked those virtual machines for speed. This doesn’t apply to games – virtual machines don’t have very good 3D graphics support, so all but the oldest games will fail to run.
To integrate the Windows applications with your desktop, you can use VirtualBox’s seamless mode or VMware’s Unity mode. The applications will still be running in a virtual machine, but their windows will appear seamlessly on your desktop, as if they were running on Linux.
Try CrossOver
If Wine seems like too much of a pain, you may want to try CrossOver Linux. CrossOver is a commercial product so it will cost you money, although CodeWeavers offer a free trial. CrossOver essentially takes the Wine software and packages it so that it’s guaranteed to work properly with popular applications like Photoshop, Office, and even popular games. CodeWeavers provides commercial support for these supported programs, so you have someone to turn to if something breaks.
This option isn’t for everyone – often you can run the same applications by using Wine – but if you’re just interested in running a few popular applications on your Linux desktop and paying someone else to do the tweaking for you, CrossOver may be your ticket. CrossOver also sends their patches back to the Wine project, so the money you pay helps fund open-source Wine development.
As with Wine, CrossOver won’t work perfectly with everything. Like with Wine, CodeWeavers has a compatibility database website.
Use a Remote Desktop
If you have access to a remote Windows system, you may want to try running your applications on the remote Windows system and using remote desktop on your Linux system to access them. The applications will be running remotely on a real Windows system, so they should work properly.
Run Linux In Windows
Many Linux desktops include software for accessing remote Windows desktops already. If not, you can install the rdesktop package.
Run Linux On Windows Phone
When All Else Fails: Dual Boot
You can’t run every Windows program on Linux – when a big new PC game comes out, it will often be quite some time until it runs properly in Wine. While Steam on Linux and rumored Linux support from Blizzard may change this in the future, games are the one category of app that have the most issues on Linux – although many older games work perfectly.
Instead of giving up on Windows entirely, consider keeping it around in a dual-boot configuration. When you want to play a new game that doesn’t work properly on Linux, restart into your Windows system.
If you’re dual-booting, you can even access your Linux partitions from Windows so you’ll always have access to your files.
READ NEXT- › How to Use Text Editing Gestures on Your iPhone and iPad
- › Windows 10’s BitLocker Encryption No Longer Trusts Your SSD
- › How to Disable or Enable Tap to Click on a PC’s Touchpad
- › How HTTP/3 and QUIC Will Speed Up Your Web Browsing
- › Motherboards Explained: What Are ATX, MicroATX, and Mini-ITX?