Linux Question: Do You Need a Windows Partition to Run WINE? Is it Stable?

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Hi everyone!

A question for those of your familiar with Linux.

After several headaches with Windows the past month, I’ve gotten slightly familiar with Linux, using a Linux Mint LiveCD to access the files locked up on my machine, and to get a little work done while waiting on the repair man.

I’ve been quite liking it so far, and it’s had me tempted to wipe this machine and recreate it as a Linux machine; Mostly to avoid paying yet again for a Windows repair.

It occured to me that all of the software I use, Firefox, Thunderbird, Open Office, GNUCash, Aptana, are compatible. Everything, that is, but Adobe.

I’ve been researching and learnt that there’s a program called WINE that could allow me to run Adobe on Linux. Is that true, or is my understanding wrong? Is it that I’d still need a Windows partition on my machine with Adobe installed there, and basically I access it from the Linux part?

Those of you who’ve tried this before, were there any performance losses as a result? Most of the work I do is on Adobe; Bridge, Photoshop, InDesign, so I need to be sure that it will run perfectly well and super stable. Anyone?

Thanks!

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Yes, you can run “most” programs under Wine and no you won’t need a windows parition for it, it utilizes emulation so you do get a slight performance loss in the process, but depending on your RAM and CPU specs you may not notice it.

I haven’t used Bridge, Photoshop or InDesign in Wine, but keep in mind, if you find Wine can’t support it, you can also setup a Virtual Machine using VirtualBox, install Windows in it, and install the adobe products there.

You can also purchase a “more stable” Wine called CrossOver. I haven’t used it personally, but I’ve heard good things about it. You can see which [url=http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/company/?letter=a;company_sort%5Bcompany_name%5D=ASC;company_curPos=50;company_id=2;sort%5Bapp_name%5D=ASC;curPos=50]Adobe programs are proven supported though the others not listed may very well be supported too.

I’ve run a couple of programs through Wine and they worked well enough for me to get the job done and move on. Since then, I’ve migrated to primarily using programs already on Linux (Gimp/InkScape instead of Photoshop/Fireworks for example). It took me a lot of time to get used to it, but now I don’t miss Photoshop or Fireworks in the least.

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Thanks very much, cpradio! That was very helpful.

One more very important question. Drivers!

How does Linux handle drivers?

I just looked at the discs that came with my HP and Canon printers and they both only listed Windows and OS. Is it that there’s a way for Linux to interpret the Mac OS driver? Or is it that in the Linux community, there are persons out there who create drivers for Linux users?

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For HP, you can use their open source Imaging/Printing drivers. Keep in mind, you may have to play with which driver to use before it works correctly (I had to try it 2 or 3 times before I got it configured correctly).

As for Cannon, I’m not sure, but I think those will work almost out of the box but as usually it depends what model you have.

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Okay, thanks.

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I used Photoshop with Wine and it works almost perfectly. Sometimes, depending on the version of Photoshop or Wine, it doesn’t work as expected. It is a rare thing but it may happen. That happens because a particular .dll is missing which may be windows .dll or a photohsop .dll file. It may not be an easy task to know which .dll file you’re missing but normally it does tell you.

If you know which one it is, you simply copy it to the appropiate folder and you’re good to go, the problem will not show again.

Wine is not really an emulator, I would say that it is more similar to having an OEM (that is limited) version of Windows running in your Linux machine. That’s why you can copy the .dll files that you have missing and go on as if nothing happened.