All Things Microsoft > Microsoft Software

Programs Running in Background

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saddlemagic:
Try using "end-it-all"

http://www.pcmedixwebs.com/enditall.htm

It's much better than the Windows close program (ctrl/alt/del)

Calum:

quote:Windows programs wont run in Linux.
--- End quote ---
This is not true. They will not run natively in linux, but many windows programs will run in linux using an emulator type program such as win4lin, winex or wine, or a virtual PC like VMWare (which provides a virtual computer within which you install windows, the virtual computer is actually a windows running within linux.)
So there are quite a few ways to run windows programs in linux. HOWEVER i have heard of no way at all to run linux programs in windows, which is very telling.

Also, sadly, Microsoft chooses not to document its APIs properly (in order to give itself an advantage over other software companies when writing win32 programs) so this means that windows emulators cannot respond to all the calls that windows would, because those calls are not documented. By this logic, the problem will affect actual Microsoft programs (like M$Word) running in an emulator the most.

Also, for people who are scared of switching, i suggest dual booting. You can divide your hard disk in two, and shove all your windows stuff to one of the sides, then install linux on the other side, choosing which to boot from when you switch yr machine on. I would then urge you to actually use the linux system for a while, no matter how unusual it at first seems, use it for internet browsing and word processing and so on at first, then use it for everything. You will hopefully find that once it is set up right, you prefer it to windows. As for files, you can probably use all your current documents and files in linux right off your hard drive or wherever, depending on the file system that your windows system currently uses.

tratan:
In case there was any doubt about WINE working well, here's a nice page:

http://www.linuxgames.com/articles/nvidia_first_look/

It's honest; the linux machine didn't win, but the difference was usually pretty negligible.  

Less graphic-intensive applications, such as office programs, often do even better.  However, there are several native Linux programs that can read and write to Microsoft's Office files.  StarOffice is one example, I can't remember the others at the moment.

KDE is very similar to Windows in appearance, though I prefer the look and feel of Gnome.  You can always change, so you should probably go with KDE at first.

Installation is simple for Redhat, and I hear that some other distributions are even easier.  I think Mandrake in particular is supposed to be very easy to install and use.

Good luck!  There are a lot of people here willing to answer any technical questions you may have.

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