Running Windows Software on Ubuntu

As soon as we start using a PC, we start accumulating files and software. We might create some files using the software that came with the machine but pretty soon we will have either bought more software or downloaded some. Whether it is downloading music and a player, or uploading photos or videos from our cameras, we'll very quickly find that we have hundreds of files stored on the hard drive.

Moving to another operating system means that there will be different software to use and we naturally wonder whether we'll still be able to access all those older files. Will we still be able to view our photos, listen to our music? Will we still be able to open and edit our documents, and will we lose all that lovely formatting?

Ubuntu comes ready equipped with a range of standard software to manage sound files, photos, word processing, and graphics and includes a package manager that allows the user to find and install a huge range of additional software stored in a repository, in fact several, all completely free. Having such a resource available means that you'll probably find that you have all the software you need to continue using your files as before. But of course, you may have bought software for your Windows machine which produces proprietary files. Will you still be able to run those expensive packages you bought?

Wine, CrossOver, and Mono

There are several ways of running Windows applications on Ubuntu depending on the application and what resources it requires. Older Windows programs had fewer dependencies on code libraries and so it was possible to provide an application which mapped any calls to the Windows operating system into calls to the Ubuntu operating system. That application on Ubuntu is called Wine. Once Wine is installed on your Ubuntu system (and you can install it very quickly and easily through the Synaptic Package Manager with a click or two), you can install Windows software directly by inserting the disk or running the installation program.

Wine is automatically loaded and for the majority of software, the program installs just as on a Windows computer. You then select the Windows program and run it by clicking, same as usual. Wine loads and manages the Windows program so you see just the same program as if it was running on Windows.

Of course, there are some programs that won't work with Wine but I've used major packages such as Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and even MS Office without problems. Sometimes though, software requires something very specific that Wine does not provide. Most recent software for Windows uses a library of Microsoft code called .NET and this can be installed onto Ubuntu through a package called Mono. This allows .NET code to run on a Linux machine. So a .NET program will run without anything else directly on an Ubuntu machine.

If neither of these works for your specific software, you can buy an application from the people at codeweavers.com called CrossOver. This has an official list of around 150 mainstream Windows applications and games which run seamlessly on an Ubuntu system, but there are many more that also run. You can even download and install Internet Explorer, though with the superior Firefox for free, it's hard to see why you would.

So what applications do you use day to day?

For web browsing, Firefox is the default browser but you can also install a native version of Google Chrome as well. For email, Evolution is provided which supports contacts, calendars, memos, tasks, etc, and is everything you could need. It supports filter rules, and customisable views and comes with a wide range of plugins which you can add to as you wish.

For managing graphics, you can use the GIMP package which has most, if not all, of the facilities of Photoshop, but for managing photographs and collections, downloading the free Picasa will provide you with everything you need. And remember, downloading additional software on Ubuntu is a breeze. You just look in the repository using the Package Manager, select it, click, and say thank you!

Sound files are well-supported but because of licence issues, recording and ripping to MP3 requires additional files. This is simply because the distributors of Ubuntu are not allowed to provide the codecs so you have to get hold of them yourself. Again it's a simple matter. There are many players of MP3 files available free including Audacious, VLC, Media Player, and others. You have a very wide selection of high quality players.

For writing documents, OpenOffice.org is out in front. It supports Microsoft file types, is fast and reliable, and has very clear menus, options and settings. If you have used MS Office, you can already use OpenOffice.org. The Publisher equivalent is Scribus.

For ripping music, you can use SoundJuicer but to manage MP3 ripping, you'll need to download the appropriate software. It's easy and free though.

To burn DVDs, I've used DeVeDe to create the image, and then Brasero to burn them to disk. It's a very efficient and easy process. For playing DVDs, I've used MoviePlayer, or VLC, or Xine. You have a wide choice of excellent software.

Having said that, there are very many file types for audio and video and occasionally you come across a file that just won't play. My response has always been to look on one of the forums and usually within a few minutes, I've found the answer. The Ubuntu community is amazingly friendly and helpful and no matter what question you ask, someone knows the answer and is happy to provide it. And of course, it's fast and free.

So far, I haven't found any file types that I can't use on Ubuntu. Even the production of PDF files is a breeze as it's built in to OpenOffice.org and also there are countless free utilities available including the excellent PDFEdit. When I first moved over to Ubuntu, I was worried about accessing files but it has simply never been a problem.