[prabh]

Hi,


I was thinking to install ubuntu on my pc.
i wanna know that my driver and softwares that i have saved on my hard drive(to work with windows), will they work fine?


Stupid question......... Yeah I know.


Thanks in advance.

[modi123_1]

A few things.. First you know anything install on windows won't be a part of your linux run, right? Any windows driver or update won't be applicable to your ubuntu.

Second, ubuntu has a 'live cd' you burn and it runs the OS in memory; nothing is installed! You can do a test run with that to see if your components are all working right and when you are ready do the install.

[prabh]

you mean to say that no software or game will work that i download for windows

[modi123_1]

In short, no. Those are designed for the Windows operating system. You are going off the reservation with a whole new OS. It's like if you installed iOS - would you expect your windows games to work for it? In the same vein if you buy an XBOX360 game would you expect it to work in your PS3?

Different commands, background structure, memory management, and so on. This is not to say you can't find games you have built for a different OS - you would just need to repurchase them if they are commercially available.

[Psyguy]

Personally, I wouldn't do it...again. I had an old laptop that I dropped Linux into (Fedora). I tried using it to do some coding on while I was at school. It didn't work out so well due to the programs not being able to determine where the compiler was (and because of my inexperience with Linux).

[prabh]

So it would be stupidity.

[modi123_1]

I say experiment with the live cd! That's why it's there. No install, no mess, just play-testing!

[Vblaster]

Wine can run some windows apps. winehg.org

[Gorian]

the other option, if you want to continue to use windows, is to install Cygwin. It is kinda the inverse of Wine, providing a POSIX, linux-like enviroment, on windows, while also allowing you to compile native linux code on windows (it will use the Cygwin API to emulate unix functionality).

[Sethro117]

Get VirtualBox and install linux in a VM. Play with it there and you can still use Windows normally. See how you like it, really get into since it's just like an actual system and if you feel you want to switch then do so or least Dual Boot.

[dorknexus]

If you are actually interested in learning how to work around modern linux distributions then your best bet is to only boot linux. This way you are forced to fix things that don't work how you want, and you will learn a lot faster. A lot of people dual boot, and as soon as they get frustrated with the new system they go back to the old. The best way to learn is to immerse yourself in it.

[no2pencil]

prabh, on 09 September 2011 - 12:30 PM, said:

So it would be stupidity.

Not necessarily. I started using Linux in '96 & went full bore sometime in '98. Every Operating System is going to offer something that others do not. You use what works best for you.

Also if you are going to switch to Ubuntu, you may as well just use Windows. It really is about the same thing except with a bunch of hassle. There isn't much benefit to running Ubuntu imo. If you are going to seriously devote some time to Linux, shop around a few different distributions before making up your mind. There is a world of difference between Linux, Windows, & Mac Operating Systems, & I think it's worth getting the full picture.

prabh, on 09 September 2011 - 11:09 AM, said:

i wanna know that my driver and softwares that i have saved on my hard drive(to work with windows), will they work fine?

Also Linux doesn't use drivers. It has device modules & they can be loaded after the kernel loads (using more memory) or they can be compiled into the kernel (faster, but you get more bloat in your kernel). It's not as cut-&-dry since you get to see under the hood (the source code) & have full access to the entire Operating System.

[andersonaaleyah]

Thanks for the suggestion I was having the same question and I got my answer

[sas1ni69]

There are a lot of applications out there for Ubuntu which are either Linux versions of the same Windows applications or alternative applications. It depends on what you want to do with your computer in general. But like most have already suggested, try to run the live Ubuntu CD to test around and see how it works out for you.