Because I use a PC with limited resources, several folks have told me to switch to Linux.
If I do this, is there an app that I can also load that will allow me to run Windows games, specifically my beloved Civ III?
Thanks for any advice!
Wine is a program that will let you do this, but not everything will run. I think Civ III is one of the programs that will. Be aware, though, that Wine is easy to install, but getting programs to run can be tricky.
There is an open source game called Freeciv that was developed for people that like Civ but couldn’t run it on Linux. I play it a lot and enjoy it, even if I do suck at it. I think it is more of a Civ II replacement, but it’s still the same fun concept.
If you are willing to pay, Transgamer puts out a fork of Wine that is designed to run games. They do all the work, you have all the fun. At a cost.
As leenmi said, you can’t run Windows programs on Linux without wine, and wine can be a beast to get to work correctly. I’ve had very little luck getting windows apps or games running with wine.
I am a (almost*) complete linux fan-boy but I wouldn’t just get rid of Windows and install Linux unless you know if you’ll like it. Google for “Live CD” and try a few. They’re Linux distro’s that you can burn and run off of a CD without touching your hard drive. If you find that you do like Linux, then go for a Install.
-
- For years I ran Linux exclusively until last fall when I got an iBook. Wonderfully pretty GUI with a chewy Unix center… drool
if your hard disk is big enough, you might want to consider dual booting to both windows and linux.
Don’t get caught up in OS wars. The “correct” operating system for you is the one that runs your programs. You can have a really whiz bang super duper great operating system, but if it won’t run the programs you want to use, it is completely worthless.
If you want to run Civ III and it is only available in windows, then you need windows, plain and simple. If you have a PC with limited resources and you try to emulate windows under linux that is going to take even more resources, leaving precious little left for your program to use. If you are going to emulate one OS or machine from another, you really want a high enough horsepower machine that it can handle both the emulation and the program being run. Trying to make it work on an already underpowered machine is just asking for trouble.
I second what **engineer_comp_geek[\b] said. We have been focusing on Civ III, but you need to decide what is important to you and find the OS that can do that. Civ III might just be one thing you’d like, but perhaps it isn’t as important as other features.
Another vote for engineer_comp_geek’s eminently sensible suggestion.
I love Linux, but it is really not what you want in this situation. Enhanced resources would be your best option.
But remember - WINE Is Not an Emulator. It just translates Windows API calls into their Unix/X11 equivlents. Usually, due to the debugging in WINE, it is a bit slower than native Windows, but occasionally some Windows programs run faster under WINE than they do under Windows.