What keeps you dual booting?

jdbower

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If you dual boot Linux, what makes you keep your other OS around? If you're just playing around with Linux to learn it, I'd recommend a Virtual Machine - it makes it much easier to boot it up and you don't need to interrupt your primary OS session.

If you want to use Linux as a primary OS, what's holding you back? While MS Office has a few neat features and looks nicer, OpenOffice.org (or LibreOffice) is good enough and improving all the time. I have a legitimate copy of Adobe Photoshop CS3 that I paid a mint for, but really Gimp should cover the majority of users and I haven't felt the need to try to get Photoshop to install under Linux. MakeMKV has replaced DVDFab. And using CrossOver Games allows me to play the Windows games I'm interested in.

I also have a Windows Virtual Machine on my Linux box in case I need to run some odd program (StokerLog was the most recent, but I've since written my own version under Linux). I have a Windows VM on my server for PlayOn, but neither of those cause me to want to dual boot.

Are there any key applications you need help migrating to Linux equivalents (or just getting them to run under Linux)? Sometimes there's a learning curve, and some things may be a bit more difficult to do, but other things are much easier in the Linux equivalent.
 

bjordan

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I used to dual boot my laptop for games. Wine has come a long way though. About a year or two ago I got rid of the dual boot and just run Ubuntu on it. I don't play a lot of computer games anymore so it's a non issue.

On my desktop I still run Windows and the only thing keeping me from switching (other then the time to bother with it) is online poker. Some of the main poker sites have clients that will run under Wine, but they have some issues. Also the top poker analytics software (Holdem Manager, Poker Tracker, etc) don't run in Linux.

Overall I could maybe get it to work but it'd be a very messy setup. I plan on getting a new laptop soon. When I do I'll probably setup a VM for Windows to play poker on.

Also for work I do a lot of Windows development so I do need Visual Studio, etc. However at home it's not a huge issue because I just RDP into my Windows box at work if I need to work from home.

I mostly use Google Docs for word documents and spreadsheets now (personal not business) so MS Office isn't a big deal to me. I can move around Gimp just fine for what I need so Photoshop isn't a big deal (although I'm WAY more comfortable in PS).

Having used Linux off and on for 10 years it's come so far. My wife has no problem using the laptop. She just picks it up, logs in launches Firefox or Chrome and does what she needs to do. She's even gotten comfortable browsing the Ubuntu Software Center and installing apps she needs. I came home one day and she'd installed a design app and laid out a design for a blanket she was knitting. I was so proud! haha
 

BlackHawkA4

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I want to run Ubuntu on a secondary hdd when I get it. Tried the live CD and love it.

What gets me is switching over because some apps won't work.

Silverlight was another reason but I just read of the alternative.

I use adobe Photoshop. I heard there is an alterantive to it. Does anyone know the name? Also, is there a sub for adobe audition? Or is there. Linux version. I haven't looked. I use my computer a lot for recording guitar and what not through a mobile pre.

I have windows 7 and its great. I love it. No reason to get rid of it. If something happened I don't have a restore CD however so I would end up just installing unbubtu. When I build my computer when I get the money I will use Ubuntu instead of buying windows unless something came up.

I already use open office. A lot of Google docs too.
 

jdbower

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On my desktop I still run Windows and the only thing keeping me from switching (other then the time to bother with it) is online poker.

If that's the only thing you use it for, I'd try out Windows in a Virtual Machine (VirtualBox is great software for beginners). That way you can be in Linux, boot up Windows in a window, and play from there.

I use adobe Photoshop. I heard there is an alterantive to it. Does anyone know the name? Also, is there a sub for adobe audition? Or is there. Linux version. I haven't looked. I use my computer a lot for recording guitar and what not through a mobile pre.

Generally GIMP is the image editor of choice under Linux. As mentioned above, Photoshop seems more "comfortable" but so far GIMP isn't lacking any functionality I use.

Audacity came up in a search for audio editing software. Ardour is another to look into. I'm afraid other than the pointers I can't comment on either.

Most of the applications I use I try to find cross-platform options. KeePassX runs on Android and Windows in addition to Linux. Gramps is genealogy software that runs on Windows, too. Gourmet is my recipe manager, again cross platform. If I ever switch back to Windows this will make life much easier. If I ever switch back to MacOS it won't matter because I'll kill myself shortly after ;)

I have windows 7 and its great. I love it. No reason to get rid of it.

Can't disagree there. XP needs to go (no native SNI support, poor IPv6 support) but Win7 is pretty nice. I use Linux as a primary because I need to do a lot of data processing that's much easier using Linux tools than Windows/CygWin. Besides, Windows works out of the box and there's nothing for me to tinker with ;)
 

bjordan

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I use adobe Photoshop.
I heard there is

Gimp is usually considered the Photoshop alternative for Linux. It's extremely powerful. It takes a little while to get used to coming from Photoshop.

GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program

Also the next main version of Gimp is going to have a single window mode (instead of tool bars floating everywhere). I think this will fill a lot more natural to people coming from Photoshop.

Also, is there a sub for adobe audition?

Here are a few well known music apps (off the top of my head). I've heard good things about them LMMS is the only one I've messed with though. It's similar to Fruity Loops. I'm not sure how they compare to Adobe Audition, but they might be worth checking out.

LMMS - LMMS - Linux MultiMedia Studio
Ardour - ardour - the digital audio workstation
Jokosher - Jokosher
Audacity - Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder
 
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bjordan

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If that's the only thing you use it for, I'd try out Windows in a Virtual Machine (VirtualBox is great software for beginners). That way you can be in Linux, boot up Windows in a window, and play from there.

I actually have VirtualBox on my laptop. My laptop is a little older though so things run a little laggy inside a vbox machine. I could try it on my desktop but I'm rarely on it anyway.

When I get a newer laptop (probably in the next few months) I'll try Virtual Box again.
 

BlackHawkA4

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Agree on the Mac Os comment. Lol.

The only thing I would need to look up is if the mobile pre has drivers for Linux.

I'm actually looking forward to building a computer soon and running Linux on it. Or more near future running Linux from an external hdd on my lap top for now.

I also want to try their server software. I'm not familiar with servers but I got a computer laying around that won't instal windows or Linux but will run dos. Maybe it'll run a server and I can mess around with it.
 

Nitros7

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Defiantly holding on for the games... My main desktop is FC14 and for almost everything thats what I use (think my next project will be MythTV, looking for a nice media server/DVR system). And as Linux gaming goes it is leaps and bounds better then it use to be... But when it comes down to it Linux does not (that I know of) support DirectX11 and thats a clincher for me (I know OpenGL...) as most of the games I use require (if not run better on) DX11 then OpenGL... That and I heard what happened to guys that got World of Warcraft running in Wine back in the day... NOT going to risk that, worked to hard to get my account wiped for "hacking". Long story short got to have DX11 for my games. :D
 

jdbower

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Under Crossover (and I assume Wine) you can install DirectX to get things to run, but you don't have access to GPU acceleration. I've got DDO running just fine, but I have to turn the graphics way down. Sadly, with ID recently promoting Direct3D over OpenGL it looks like we'll be in a Windows-for-gaming mode for a while...
 

Nitros7

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Under Crossover (and I assume Wine) you can install DirectX to get things to run, but you don't have access to GPU acceleration. I've got DDO running just fine, but I have to turn the graphics way down. Sadly, with ID recently promoting Direct3D over OpenGL it looks like we'll be in a Windows-for-gaming mode for a while...

Yeah its sad really... back in the day OpenGL was it man, worked way better then DX and there was support up the yin yang for it... But hey what M$ cant beat they buy or out PR.:-\
 

igotsanevo4g

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I keep WinXP in there so i can boot into it and jailbreak iTouch's/share music with my buddies due to us using 1 iTunes account. (Smart right ;))

Otherwise, theres nothing that ubuntu doesnt do better, windows is unbearably slow on my old box.
 

tirith

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only reason i keep windows around... final fantasy 7 pc version (i know, sad right - a 14 year old game) I've tried MANY MANY MANY different tweaks and can't get wine to run it....

if I could get it to work, I'd easily free up a good idk how many gigs of space on my C:\ drive lol
 

ndwatkins

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I just discovered that there was a Linux section of the AC forums today because some wonderful person linked me here from the Droid X forums :) I've been using Linux for awhile and love it, and generally prefer it to Windows. Saw this thread and thought I'd make my one point! I keep Windows around for some games, although the games I really care about, like Minecraft and a lot of indie games, run on Linux Mint fine. Just throwing this out there: for a long time, I was consistently booting into Windows because of OneNote, which I use for taking notes for my college classes. Ever since I started using VirtualBox, I don't have to. So that's a nice bonus :)

At any rate, nice to see this section of the forums!
 

Laura Knotek

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I have a subscription to Netflix, which cannot be streamed in Linux. Other than that, just about everything else will run. However, Netflix requires Windows or OS X.
 

jdbower

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I have a subscription to Netflix, which cannot be streamed in Linux.

That is annoying, but I find it's much easier to run Windows in a Virtual Machine (I use VirtualBox) than to reboot every time I want to watch a movie. Putting the movie into full-screen mode makes it behave like a really heavyweight media player in a window (of course, putting both VirtualBox and the NetFlix player into full screen mode makes it really full screen).

I actually don't even do that anymore, I've got a single PC in the basement with a Windows VM running PlayOn. The nice thing is they've now got an Android app so I can watch NetFlix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and my own home media from my phone wherever I am.
 

Laura Knotek

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That is annoying, but I find it's much easier to run Windows in a Virtual Machine (I use VirtualBox) than to reboot every time I want to watch a movie. Putting the movie into full-screen mode makes it behave like a really heavyweight media player in a window (of course, putting both VirtualBox and the NetFlix player into full screen mode makes it really full screen).

I actually don't even do that anymore, I've got a single PC in the basement with a Windows VM running PlayOn. The nice thing is they've now got an Android app so I can watch NetFlix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and my own home media from my phone wherever I am.

Truthfully, I am not going to ditch Windows. I have Win7 Professional and Office 2010 Professional, which I got at a discounted price since I am a student.

I might eventually use one PC specifically for Windows and another one specifically for Linux. BTW, I cannot stand the Unity desktop, so I dumped Ubuntu. I am running openSUSE11.4 now.

I do use VMware to try out different Linux distros. However, I do plan to keep Windows on a physical hard disk partition, not just in a virtual machine.
 

jdbower

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BTW, I cannot stand the Unity desktop, so I dumped Ubuntu. I am running openSUSE11.4 now.

I'm still running Maverick on my systems (my touchscreen driver doesn't work on my desktop, and I managed to kill the firmware on my laptop during the upgrade so I've downgraded). I'm curious about Unity - while it's decidedly "meh" on my netbook it supposedly supports multitouch if my touchscreen drivers will ever work. My laptop is now running Xubuntu (XFCE-based), I may change over my other systems to run it as well or switch to the even lighter Lubuntu release. Stays away from the drama of the main distro but I get to keep the Debian core and Ubuntu support from applications. If I were to switch, I'm not sure if I'd go with Fedora or Slackware (from which SUSE was derived) - I've got a soft spot for Slackware from my early Linux days.
 

Laura Knotek

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I'm still running Maverick on my systems (my touchscreen driver doesn't work on my desktop, and I managed to kill the firmware on my laptop during the upgrade so I've downgraded). I'm curious about Unity - while it's decidedly "meh" on my netbook it supposedly supports multitouch if my touchscreen drivers will ever work. My laptop is now running Xubuntu (XFCE-based), I may change over my other systems to run it as well or switch to the even lighter Lubuntu release. Stays away from the drama of the main distro but I get to keep the Debian core and Ubuntu support from applications. If I were to switch, I'm not sure if I'd go with Fedora or Slackware (from which SUSE was derived) - I've got a soft spot for Slackware from my early Linux days.

Funny you should mention Slackware. I have a Slax live CD from a while ago when I was running that distro.
 

liquidxit2

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Well I used to dual boot because I thought windows would be easier to support my work network as well as I still gamed. But as of the end of 2010 I switched completely over to linux. I do however have a win7 VM I use for those very rare times when I need windows.
 

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