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Running Linux and which version in order to run WINE or some other WIN-7..WIN-10 option.

jcdammeyer

jcdammeyer

John
Premium Member
Hopefully title says it all. I want to put Linux on my old WIN-7 workstation. I'd like to be able to run some of the WIN-7 applications that aren't available under Linux.

So which version of Linux is a best bet for this sort of thing. I already run Debian LinuxCNC for the mill and on Pi4 boards.

In addition to Umbuntu there are a few other versions. Needless to say it has to run SAMBA and I've not had any trouble setting that up on the Pi3/4 units.

I know that AlibreDesign will not run in WINE. But I'd like to find out about some of my other software and hardware development platforms. For example even just the simple Machinist Toolbox. Etc.
 
Maybe you prefer to keep it all on one device?

I like to keep them separated. Buy a used laptop for $200 and have one device for Linux and the other for Windows.
 
Elektrishun said:
Maybe you prefer to keep it all on one device?

I like to keep them separated. Buy a used laptop for $200 and have one device for Linux and the other for Windows.
Click to expand...
The problem is I don't want to go to WIN-11. Mind you I stayed with WIN-7 for about 3 years after support was discontinued. Was then finally forced to update by the software I was running. An upgrade wouldn't run on WIN-7 any more. Don't remember which one.

I'm not fond of a company "Enhancing my user experience".

I've updated the Linux Mint version on my old system. The graphical interface is more Windows like compared to Ubuntu which is more Apple like.

SAMBA appears to be working for access to folders in the "to linux" direction. The other way for "Linux to Linux" works but not completely for "Linux to Windows".

Also Remote Desktop reaches the point where I can sign in from Windows but it doesn't like my password or maybe user name so that's still an issue. Haven't tried the other direction yet.

Will set up WINE today to see if I can run the applications for developing and compiling code for the M9S12 and PIC series processors. Arduinos shouldn't be a problem since I believe there's a native Linux version for that.

The key thing is no matter what, I have to have a copy of Windows to run AlibreCAD/CAM but I can leave a dedicated machine for that running WIN-10. May be true for other development code too.
 
Run Windows in a virtual machine under Linux? I've installed virtual machines of older Windows versions to support old software on newer windows versions. They seem to be more stable (and sometimes faster) than the host.
 
MrWhoopee said:
Run Windows in a virtual machine under Linux? I've installed virtual machines of older Windows versions to support old software on newer windows versions. They seem to be more stable (and sometimes faster) than the host.
Click to expand...
What flavour of Linux did you use?
 
MrWhoopee said:
Run Windows in a virtual machine under Linux? I've installed virtual machines of older Windows versions to support old software on newer windows versions. They seem to be more stable (and sometimes faster) than the host.
Click to expand...
That's like WINE right?
 
WINE is a sub-system for linux that allows programs compiled for Windows to run on Linux. Running a virtual machine will run a whole copy of Windows (or any other OS) as a task on Linux. You would then run your program from that OS.
 
It depends on which flavor of Linux, but in short you choose a hypervisor and install it. It will have some sort of control program - with a GUI or command line or both. You decide which part of your hardware you want to dedicate to your virtual machine, and then connect virtual devices like DVD drives and network ports. Get a copy of windows and boot into setup just like you word with a normal machine, but everything happens inside a window on your Linux desktop

You can have as many virtual machines as you have hardware to run them. Usually the limit is memory
 
mbond said:
It depends on which flavor of Linux, but in short you choose a hypervisor and install it. It will have some sort of control program - with a GUI or command line or both. You decide which part of your hardware you want to dedicate to your virtual machine, and then connect virtual devices like DVD drives and network ports. Get a copy of windows and boot into setup just like you word with a normal machine, but everything happens inside a window on your Linux desktop

You can have as many virtual machines as you have hardware to run them. Usually the limit is memory
Click to expand...
Is it possible to take a complete Windows environment with all the installed programs and data into that virtual machine? That's what I want to do.
 
Look up vmbox. Lots of tutorials, info, & examples. I used this at work pretty extensively some years back when doing software development on both OSs. At home I preferred booting Windows from an entirely different drive on the same PC for the one and only program I cared about that did not have a Linux compatible version.
 
slow-poke said:
Is it possible to take a complete Windows environment with all the installed programs and data into that virtual machine? That's what I want to do.
Click to expand...
Yes! That's exactly what a virtual machine is. Just like if you had a totally separate computer, but it lives inside the other one.
 
slow-poke said:
What flavour of Linux did you use?
Click to expand...
I've only done it with a Windows 7 or 10 host running Windows XP or 98 in the virtual machine. I just know that it can be done under Linux. I've fooled with with Ubuntu a couple of times, but never got that far into it.

mbond said:
Yes! That's exactly what a virtual machine is. Just like if you had a totally separate computer, but it lives inside the other one.
Click to expand...

Precisely! Once you're in the virtual machine, it thinks it's a real computer.
I explain it to people by likening it to a flight simulator, only it's a computer simulator.
One of the big advantages is that the virtual machine lives in a single file which can be transferred to another host machine.
I've seriously considered using a virtual as my primary machine for that very reason. When it's time to move to a new computer, you can have your entire world back just the way it was with no delay, hair-tearing or data loss.
 
Dual boot is the proper way to go. Buy another drive and use it for Linux. In fact the best way is to buy two drives, one for the OS 250 Gb is good for this and the second one 1-4 Tb for data storage.
Pierre
 
I don't think it is right to say that there is one proper way. There are advantages and disadvantages to every approach. But virtual machines are free, except for your time, and offer a lot of flexibility. In fact all cloud providers use and offer only virtual machines commercially, and everything except the most demanding workloads are run that way
 
Sure the are many ways. I have been bit by VM due to resource limitations as not the whole system is available while using VM.
Pierre
 
Dual boot might be a good way for me to transition. My laptop has two SSD, so it sounds like I can install Linux on one of them. Not sure how you configure the PC to allow you to choose which OS when powered up?
 
The distributions will walk you through on how to set it up. Your laptop might only have one drive that is partitioned into two. Depending on the size of the drive, one can make a separate partition for Linux. Check you machine.
 
All recent machines use a standard called UEFI. Both Windows and Linux have tools to allow you to configure the boot options that it sees and whether it should prompt you to choose, or boot into an OS automatically. The choice can also be overridden on a one time basis during the boot sequence. Each system vendor has a different way to interrupt the boot sequence, but typically you press a key like F2 or on laptops / tablets, volume buttons.

In Windows 11, the options are configured in the system-> recovery part of settings. I would have to think to tell you where it is in older versions or on Linux

In any case, I would highly recommend that when you do use Windows, you use Windows 11. Some of the visual stuff is annoying, but the kernel improvements are not insubstantial. And the lack of security updates for older OSes is a problem that goes without saying. Lack of security updates for Linux versions is a major issue too.
 
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