Using Windows Applications on Linux

Linux Journal is running a telling chapter excerpt from the book, Exploring the JDS Linux Desktop, (O'Reilly) by Tom Adelstein & Sam Hiser. The exerpt is Chapter 9: "Using Windows Applications with Sun's Java Destkop System".

Many people remain blissfully unaware that you can run a growing list of Windows applications on Linux. This development may disturb a certain tidy model of reality but it represents the overthrow of a major obstacle to the widespread adoption of Linux, that of "Application Availability."

This chapter covers the ins & outs of using WINE on Linux as an environment under which to install many of the important applications on which Windows users depend. The implementation of WINE in this example is from CodeWeavers CrossOver Office, which permits the following applications--if one possesses a license for them--to be installed and used transparently under Linux:

Here is CodeWeavers' List of Top Windows Apps that are certified for Linux, where the Top 10 most popular applications by vote include:

1   iTunes
2   Lotus Notes 6.5.1
3   Dreamweaver MX 2004
4   Quicken 2004
5   Office 2003
6   Photoshop CS
7   Visio 2003
8   Acrobat 6
9   Project 2003
10  TurboTax

With such complete application availability (anecdotally speaking, Quicken and Photoshop were major missing links for Linux for a while), it's clear that Desktop Linux has fewer and fewer functionality gaps versus the main desktop operating environment. This--along with the undisputed stability and security of Linux--should lead responsible educated observers to conclude that Windows' stickiness is not based on rational behavior but on herd behavior. It indicates further that whenever Linux becomes De riguer on the desktop (which is inevitable, given sufficient momentum), the escape from Windows will be surprisingly rapid.