want to switch but what

[corvette]

i would like to switch from windows but i am a gamer and is there a linux that can run windows programs and if which one???? i just want something like windows without all the crap and so i can use windows program
i am only asking because i am a beigneer at linux but i can learn quick
thanks
corvette

p.s wanst sure were to post so sorry if in wrong spot

[worker201]

I don't think switching is what you really want to do. Sad to say that gaming is just not something that Linux is real strong on. And there's a lot of reasons for that, like distribution contracts and copyrights and the general attitude of many Linux users toward games in general. For at least the time being, games are going to be played on Windows machines. And if you want to game (but don't want to write your own game), you're pretty much stuck with Windows. Some people will tell you about Wine or Qemux, or Crossover, and those do work, but in the end, a gamer without Windows is like a car without headlights - you'll always be lost and behind. Sorry to break the bad news to ya.

**************
Now, personally, I think gaming is stupid, and that you should wait until you want to do something interesting before you start talking about switching. Wanting to be a Linux gamer is like going to McDonald's and ordering burgers with no meat - you've given up the item, but not the concept. Of course it isn't my place to tell you what you should and should not do with your computer. This is just down here in case you want my opinion instead of my advice.

{[(edited - thanks PiratePenguin)]}

[Refalm]

What kind of games do you play?

[piratePenguin]

a gamer with Windows is like a car without headlights

I think he meant a gamer withOUT Windows.

There's the free (as in freedom + price) wine and the non-free cedega[url] to run Windows games on GNU/Linux, but not all games work. Check out the application databases (wine's is [url=http://appdb.winehq.org/]here) to see if they can run what it is you want.

It will always be easier to run Windows applications on Windows, of course. If you use your computer for little more than gaming, switching to GNU/Linux mightn't be a brilliant idea unless you wanna work hard getting the games to work (and not all of them will work anyhow).

[H_TeXMeX_H]

You can play Quake 4 on Linux ... as well as other games:
http://www.microsuck.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10105

You might also want to look at ReactOS, still I don't think wine is useful for gaming, it's slow, unstable, and it just sux.

[corvette]

i am a gamer and a programmer. i have a 4.3 ghz P4 SLI with 4 gigs of ram and two geforce 7900 512 mb and 4 32 wide screen montiors i play any game out right now and i make webpages for people around so i am a multi propose person and i am getting into linux programming on my laptop which is a 3.0 ghz compaq with gig of ram and a intel exetreme graphics card

[Lead Head]

i am a gamer and a programmer. i have a 4.3 ghz P4 SLI with 4 gigs of ram and two geforce 7900 512 mb and 4 32 wide screen montiors i play any game out right now and i make webpages for people around so i am a multi propose person and i am getting into linux programming on my laptop which is a 3.0 ghz compaq with gig of ram and a intel exetreme graphics card

You do know that windows cannot use more then 3GB of ram unless you have the x86-64 version, and Intel's implimation of x86-64 sucks hard compared to AMDs

[worker201]

Unless you work for Lucasfilm, you probably don't need that much damn RAM.

[solemnwarning]

Unless you work for Lucasfilm, you probably don't need that much damn RAM.

I have 1gig in my machine, and normally my ram usage is around 256mb

[Annorax]

I think he meant a gamer withOUT Windows.

There's the free (as in freedom + price) wine and the non-free cedega[url] to run Windows games on GNU/Linux, but not all games work. Check out the application databases (wine's is [url=http://appdb.winehq.org/]here) to see if they can run what it is you want.

It will always be easier to run Windows applications on Windows, of course. If you use your computer for little more than gaming, switching to GNU/Linux mightn't be a brilliant idea unless you wanna work hard getting the games to work (and not all of them will work anyhow).

Crossover Office is also useful for non-graphics-intensive things like most poker clients. It's a shame the damn things require "real" ActiveX provided by installing IE in the same bottle...

[H_TeXMeX_H]

I have 1gig in my machine, and normally my ram usage is around 256mb

My ram usage (FC5) is around 47 MB (without running anything) - 429 MB (with Paradroidz running, a heavily memory intensive Java game).

[worker201]

A gig of RAM is cool, almost necessary if you want to switch back and forth between Photoshop and Illustrator and Flash and Premiere, for example.  4 gigs is something a renderer might want.  Outside of that, though, the average user here would probably be okay with less than 500MB, as long as it was fast enough.

[corvette]

One A Good Day I Can Use 3.5 Of It I Am A Heavy Cpu User And I Am Not Normal And I Can Have 4 Gigs Cause I Do Now So
Thanks
Corvette

[cymon]

Is A Side Effect Of Having Lots Of Ram Typing Like This????

[Pathos]

Unless you work for Lucasfilm, you probably don't need that much damn RAM.

unless you develop java applications :/