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One thing that would be awesome is a 64bit coLinux port!

coLinux is a win32 application with drivers that lets you run a Linux kernel with userspace natively in Windows - it is much lighter than any virtualisation option out there, and using Xming you can easily run GUI apps that launch and run just as well as if they were natively ported to windows.

Unfortunately the drivers were never ported to 64-bit, and thus is it now useless on all but the oldest computers out there. A 64-bit coLinux port would be a requirement to getting this awesome project back on its rails.

See:
http://www.colinux.org/
http://colinux.wikia.com/wiki/Dashboard_for_developing_a_64_bit_coLinux

And also andLinux - which offered an easy way to install and configure coLinux - think of it like coLinux being the Linux kernel and andLinux the Linux distribution...
http://www.andlinux.org/

I would love to be able to use coLinux again on my work PC, which (unfortunately) has to run Windows.

Or run Windows andLinux.

Others have mentioned virtualisation as a means of running Linux on Windows, but if your computer doesn't have a hypervisor this can be dog slow. Other alternatives are trying out a coLinux based distro such as TopologiLinux or andLinux, coLinux is a modified Linux kernel that runs as a process under Windows, so it is just like running an application on Windows. Another option is using Ubuntu's Wubi installer, the installer runs under Windows, installs to a loopback filesystem (a filesystem stored within a file) and uses the Windows bootloader, so no repartitioning required, and it makes installing and uninstalling Linux as easy as any other program on Windows, this will run a little slower than a regular install due to the loopback filesystem, but for trying Ubuntu it is a good option.

Tried andLinux?

Why not something less convoluted like andLinux? I used Cygwin when I first started tinkering with Linux when I was young, but there are so many better alternatives at this point I don't understand why it's still around.

andLinux is quite nice as an alternative/addition to cygwin. It's a full Linux distro within Windows. It uses cooperative Linux, which is basically a windows port of the Linux kernel. Unfortunately, it's currently not usable on 64-bit systems, due to driver signing and the fact that 64-bit Linux and Windows don't agree on the size of a long.

Or andLinux.

I used andlinux at work when i needed those linux apps. It runs a fully functional install of ubuntu (running the colinux kernel) with full access to the ubuntu repositories. Granted it doesn't get rid of the non-unified file structure of windows, but the unified file system of linux is something that I find just as annoying and apparently enough people do that debian's file system icon takes you to a separated view with individual drives. NMAP and other network tools worked with some fiddling, and I could still use the windows only apps at full speed without emulation or wine.

You may look at andLinux. A real Linux distro (specifically, Ubuntu) running inside Windows, by way of Cooperative Linux. It seemed dead for awhile, though it seems to have come back to life.

Also, the new version can now make Windows file associations point to andLinux programs.

Only real caveat for this is it will not currently work on any 64-bit version of Windows.

Agreed. They've done a fantastic job, but their job will never be over.

I personally think that reversing that effort would be best. If companies were able to develop solid apps for Linux, and be assured that they would work flawlessly and efficiently in Windows, that would be a better way to kill two birds with one stone.

A major project going this direction is andLinux, which is basically the opposite of Wine. It uses the coLinux kernel, a port of the Linux kernel for Windows, to allow Linux programs to run natively in Windows.

Does it run on windows?

One of its many versions DOES run on windows

you should try using AndLinux. It installs a build of linux that runs along side windows (via the colinux kernel). Its really nice to be able to double click a terminal icon and get a command terminal into a fully functional unix like environment in windows (you apt-get from the ubuntu repositories).

Really, no kidding! Try it.

Not sure if this is what the PP means but this certainly is native linux running in Windows.

andLinux is a complete Ubuntu Linux system running seamlessly in Windows 2000 based systems (2000, XP, 2003, Vista; 32-bit versions only). This project was started for Dynamism for the GP2X community, but its userbase far exceeds its original design. andLinux is free and will remain so, but donations are greatly needed.

And anyway, AC, the point is that even if this didn't exist but I got an itch tomorrow to do it myself no one would stop me with a "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can only compile and run that code on X".

with X representing a variable, not a popular OS by Apple :-)

Have you tried Cygwin? It's sort of a pain, but in some ways it seems to work better than Wine. Also there's a project that's supposed to be a port of the Linux kernel for Windows (I know, sounds strange..). I've never tried it, but here's andLinux.

Well, you could run some games under andLinux. Not sure if it would support 3D graphics and such, but it's definitely possible.

Microsoft is really trying to save Vista, they had a really nice OS with Windows XP and it seems so far they're too thick headed to realize that. I just hope they realize soon that they failed, they tried something new and nobody likes it.

"they had a really nice OS with Windows XP"

Weren't we saying that about Windows 2000 when people hated XP not so long ago?

I use Vista at home. Its sole purpose is to play a couple of games, but to make the experience more tolerable I installed andlinux on it.

The problem with vistas are:

* UAC does not really solve security problems; it is just annoying. I turned that shit off since all I do is play games on it (and as soon as Cedega or Crossover Games runs it I'll be dumping Vista)
* Diagnostics is a little harder because more is hidden from the user
* WHY must drivers be signed? This is slowing adoption of 64-bit Windows -- and it certainly hasn't stopped the propogation of viruses, spyware, etc.
* It requires way too many resources for a home machine.

There are some things I really like about it, but the driver signing is a mistake (vendors won't keep their drivers updated with maintenance releases) and UAC is a flawed solution.

Also the UI is kind of weak. In MSIE 7 why did they do away with the menus? yeah it looks cleaner but it's more of a hassle to use. Some of the 3D effects are neat, but have they even looked at XGL/Compiz Fusion? I show people my Linux desktop and they ask me if I can put Linux on their systems, and they're amazed at what comes free with the OS (I do usually pay for the distro to support it though).

DRM slows networking to a crawl. Still. :(

Windows Media Center IS really nice though. Honestly, it's a hell of a lot better than Myth, because unlike Myth it just works. That is one thing Microsoft got right in both Vista and XP (Windows Media Center Edition).

I happened to catch a Vista ad when watching a movie on hulu.com last night. This older gentleman was going on and on about how great Vista was, etc. and I just kept thinking that it's either not a real-world user but "just" an actor reading a script, or it's a user who is BRAND NEW to Vista and is looking at it for the first time, and hasn't encountered any of the annoyances.

Oh sure, preinstalled it's _okay_ but why should the OS all by itself require 1GB of RAM (512 for basic)?

What I'd love to see Microsoft do is make the system less monolithic. Go back to the Windows/DOS model. Not the 16-bitness and instability of course, but separate the GUI from the underpinnings, and make loading the GUI optional (maybe powershell or SFU could be one of the interfaces you could boot to) to make diagnostics easier, and hell, even make the system lightweight for certain applications.

Go back to making the install program more modular - so you can pick and choose which components get installed.

Drop the driver signing, as it hasn't hindered crackers and virus authors at all, but has hindered 64-bit adoption.

Either drop backwards compatibility, or provide backwards compatibility via a VM which runs a stripped-down XP environment.

Fix the underlying security model. At security Microsoft still fails. UAC is a hack for perception purposes only, and while it MIGHT prevent idiots from shooting themselves in the foot, it does not solve any inherent security issues.

And now there's even an apt-get style package installation tool to make it extra easy!

http://windows-get.sourceforge.net/

This site will help you find open source replacements for your proprietary software (which is also handy for anyone switching to Linux):

http://www.osalt.com/

If you see something you want that's only available for Linux, no problem, install this and run them right alongside the Windows apps:

http://www.andlinux.org/

On my Windows gaming machines I use all FOSS (except some of the games, drivers and hardware config utilities, and Windows itself of course).

Or, if you must use Windows (e.g. for development), use andLinux and run Firefox from the linux side. You simply can't run a windows virus from there.

Is it just me, or did this already exist? Doesn't sound that new to me...

np: Saul Williams - Grippo (Saul Williams)

You could always use webkit on windows, either by using Safari, or Konquerer

For your needs I would rather recommend andLinux, which is a handy installer for coLinux+Ubuntu.

coLinux installs the whole Linux kernel as a ring 0 driver in windows, and installs the whole linux filesystem as a windows file. You then run your normal Linux OS applications through a native Windows headless X server. It works just great, with performance similar to that of User Mode Linux.

Wubi installs a loopback image of Ubuntu that can be dual-booted into in parallell with Windows. That means you can't have your windows apps runnign at the same time as your windows apps.

Others have recommended VMWare, but for the kind of usage where you don't have to mess around with different guest OS images, but just install once and run, I favour coLinux's approach. andLinux is just a nifty way to get it installed.

I used coLinux for a while three years ago, and it was great, but difficult to get running (particularly the networking). andLinux just makes it work.

If you *must* run windows for company apps, then Wubi probably isn't for you. It's more of a dual-boot type thing, cept it uses a file on your windows partition as it's 'hard drive'.

You might want to try out andLinux. It's a full on linux that integrates seamlessly inside of windows.

Personally, dual-booting is kind of a drag because of the constant reboots to get into Windows to do that one Windows-only thing, so I like cygwin or andLinux over Wubi.