software question

[memevector]

Cheaper-than-usual XP Home.

What do you think, o wise friends-list people? Is there likely to be a catch?

Comments

[lovingboth]

Your other 'better' alternative would be to use VMWare - it emulates a PC on your real one. Stick an old copy of Win98SE on it, and don't let it see the internet.

The one sticking point may be Via Voice, but the one here runs ok on Win98SE.

If it's a USB camera, I'd be surprised if there wasn't better Linux software to read it. If it isn't, you probably need a new camera :)

[memevector.livejournal.com]

Big thanks for this. Yes, evidently still quite a bit more potential in this area than I'd realised, and I think it will be possible after all for me to go Linux as the main OS. Which is brilliant! ::enthusiasm & delight::

Spent a large proportion of yesterday looking into further Win-on-Linux solutions, VMWare being one of them. VMWare Server does look like a definite possibility. However, ideally I don't want two separate virtual machines, which then have to be made to virtually talk to each other if I want the same data to be accessible from both. So at present it looks like Qemu might be slightly more suitable. Any experience of that? But I'm 99% sure that VMWare would be adequate if that doesn't work out.

Research is continuing :-)

[lovingboth]

Typically, you have your 'real' PC running Linux runs your main programs including the VM software which does the virtual PC for Windows to run on for the rest. You have the option of, for example, having a FAT32 partition that both Linux and Windows can read and write to.

[memevector.livejournal.com]

your 'real' PC running Linux runs your main programs including the VM software which does the virtual PC for Windows to run on for the rest

Is that with VMWare Player or VMWare Server?

I saw a diagram of Server which I now can't seem to find, which definitely looked like this:

[ os on vm ] [ os on vm ] 
[        vmware         ]
[   os on real machine  ]

not like this, which is how I understand Player to work:

[ os on vm ] 
[  vmware  ] [other stuff ]
[   os on real machine    ]

But maybe that first diagram was just one possible way to run Server, and really you can have other apps on the host OS too, as with Player?

Player can't create the virtual machines, only run them. Server can create them so that's why I was looking at that, and the model shown in the first diagram is what my earlier comments were based on.

I've also seen some allusion somewhere to having to "network" the virtual machines on Server if they were to talk to each other - whatever they meant by that in a virtual world. At any rate, VMWAre are at pains to stress that the virtual machines on Server are completely separate. Hence my caution about the ability to share data.

Of course it's entirely possible that I'm just misunderstanding stuff still. Steep learning curve going on here :-)

having a FAT32 partition that both Linux and Windows can read and write to.

Well, I plan to have one whole actual physical hard drive for data and one for software. (for ease of backing up data and replacing that one later with a bigger one if I need to.) So ideally both OSs would be able to see and access that entire hd.

Thanks for all this info!

Would be good to see you at Easter, yes. Will take that to email.

[memevector.livejournal.com]

update: actually don't worry about answering my previous comment - think I've got my head around it now. There is freeware to create the vm so I can use Player (which I'm guessing now is probably what you had in mind in the first place).

[lovingboth]

Yep - Player runs the 'virtual machine(s)' you've created with Server or, from memory, something else.

[memevector.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, and a couple of questions:

Stick an old copy of Win98SE on it

Win98 is what I've already got. Would you reckon it's worth 20 quid (on eBay that is) to buy SE at this point? And is there any significant likelihood that something which would run on 98 wouldn't run on 98SE?

and don't let it see the internet.

Because of security vulnerabilities or...?

[lovingboth]

None that I can remember. SE was Microsoft's way of extracting money off people for Win98 bug fixes, with a couple of new minor features thrown in to make people feel less exploited. I've got at least one disk, somewhere.

Yep, it stopped doing even critical fixes some time ago and letting the internet see such a PC is saying 'hack me now'. (Support is another reason not to pay for XP Home, actually, as it falls through to the second level of support in less than two years.)

We're in Nottingham in Easter if you want a chat (or indeed put L and I up - the kids will be with the grandparents in West Bridgeford).