Hi,

Sorry if this has already been answered but I am wanting to get away from Windows and start using Linux. The only thing I am unsure about, compatibility wise is my games. They are all for Windows OS PC's. Will Linux run them and also, if it's possible (other than a dual boot setup) any software around that will make them work if they won't straight out of the box.

Skippy

I am not very knowledgeable on this, but from what i have read, the general consensus is linux is not the best choice for games. A few will work, and you can use a windows emulator, but it wont be the same. Try having a look at some help sites: www.linuxquestions.org

goldie

The easiest thing to do is dual boot, then you could use Windows for your games and Linux for the serious stuff. Also you could install games for Linux which have been designed for Linux.

I believe WINE runs a number of PC games under Linux. Check it out on the web, I'm sure there is a site out there which lists a lot of games known to run.
John

Linux might scrape by with some games via the software emulation, but it just wont be able to control the windows-optimised hardware for the others.
Its open source-ness means if you had unlimited time and skill you could eventually compile the hacks to do it.But thats not really an option if you also have a life!

As said above youre best doing the dual boot/removable caddy HDD/dedicated second pc thing.
For the moment, most folk wont get by entirely without microsoft.

It is possible to run a number of games very well under linux, but unfortunately not all games. There is a special version of wine called winex which is specifically set up to play games, you can find out more about supported games here transgaming

I should point out that only nvidia cards are well supported under linux for 3d games there are drivers from ATI but these are not officially supported by ATI or winex.

It is also worth pointing out that wine is not an emulator (but it is a recursive acronym) it just implements the program interface of windows under linux rather than needing to emulate cpu instructions. This is requires fewer system resources than emulation. So it is possible that some (I stress the word some) applications may work faster under Linux/wine than they do under windows. The problem is that a lot of applications do not work well/at all under wine at the moment.

I am a subscriber to Transgaming ,and have downloaded wineX 2.1 .
It's true not all games run,but some of the Best do for example Warcraft 3,Max Payne,GTA 3 and my favourite Half-Life(TFC+counter-Strike).
WineX 3.0 is very close to being released wich will have full T&L ,FSAA and direct X 8.1 compatable.
There are all also a few Linux native games Like Return to castle wolfenstein , Unreal Tournament and a new Never Winter Night Linux version out now.

I think gaming is the Achilles heel in Linux, if you want the latest, fastest, in gaming 'fraid you'll have to dual boot with Windows. Emulators just wont do it. Having said that however things maybe changing, I've noticed that Gentoo are about to put out a Linux gaming CD with Unreal Tournament or something like that, you can download a free ISO version here, but be warned it's experimental. (look for experimental/x86/cd games)

ftp://ftp.oregonstate.edu/pub/gentoo/

www.transgaming.com loads of games that can be played with the WineX Software including Vice City and Battlefield 1942,the newest version is WineX 3.1.