08-02-2024, 12:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-02-2024, 12:54 PM by ppppenguin.)
I have Windows XP in various virtual machines (using Virtualbox) for assorted older software that needs actual Windows. I also use WINE (in the Winetricks version which is easier to use) to run a couple of other Windows programs. These include the indispensable (to me!) Irfanview for which I haven't found anything as good that's native to Linux.
Apart from problems with networking to the ancient XP and W98 PCs on my bench (they are hosting specialist hardware) I've had some minor annoyances with printing and scanning. A bit of googling has found solutions to most of this, though I still haven't worked out why Libreoffice Writer documents with landscape pages don't print correctly on my Samsung laser printer. I just print to PDF and then print from there. The automatic paper tray selection on my A3 Epson inkjet isn't quite right but it's easy to work around. I've tried a few different scanning apps, none of which I really like but they do the job. Windows is entirely capable of fouling up this sort of thing too.
I don't use Photoshop but if it's essential for you then you must run Windows (or use a Mac). I haven't really played with GIMP which is the main FOSS alternative and which is included in Mint. Libreoffice has occasional compatibility issues with Microsoft Office but probably no worse than between different versions of Office.
At the Broadcast Engineering Museum our IT guru and I put Linux on the various PCs that lurk in odd corners. Except we need real Windows (I don't think a VM will do it) to configure our central video and audio router. We'll find something that works.
Apart from problems with networking to the ancient XP and W98 PCs on my bench (they are hosting specialist hardware) I've had some minor annoyances with printing and scanning. A bit of googling has found solutions to most of this, though I still haven't worked out why Libreoffice Writer documents with landscape pages don't print correctly on my Samsung laser printer. I just print to PDF and then print from there. The automatic paper tray selection on my A3 Epson inkjet isn't quite right but it's easy to work around. I've tried a few different scanning apps, none of which I really like but they do the job. Windows is entirely capable of fouling up this sort of thing too.
I don't use Photoshop but if it's essential for you then you must run Windows (or use a Mac). I haven't really played with GIMP which is the main FOSS alternative and which is included in Mint. Libreoffice has occasional compatibility issues with Microsoft Office but probably no worse than between different versions of Office.
At the Broadcast Engineering Museum our IT guru and I put Linux on the various PCs that lurk in odd corners. Except we need real Windows (I don't think a VM will do it) to configure our central video and audio router. We'll find something that works.
www.borinsky.co.uk Jeffrey Borinsky www.becg.tv
