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An X-Client Wrapper for Microsoft Windows?
S asks: "In my opinion, one of X11's most underrated features is the ability
to export the display of an [X] application to an X-Server that can be physically separated from the application's host (use a remote display). I have used this countless times to dramatically increase my ability to 'get stuff done' from a distance. Recently I discovered Cygwin's ability to run XFree86 in rootless mode (startx -- -rootless) where there is no main X root window, and imported displays get their own 'native-looking' window on the Microsoft Windows platform. This also has saved me much headache when working from a Windows machine to do Linux-type things. My question is: Is there some way to export the display of Microsoft Windows windows to a remote X-Server? I'm not talking VNC/RFB here, and terminal services (via rdesktop) ALMOST fits the bill, but I don't want a root window. I want to simply export the display of (say... photoshop) to my X workstation. Googling is not an easy task; 'windows' is too much of a generic term to get usable results. What I have found, however, suggests
Wine as a buffer between native Windows GUI calls and the X protocol, but offers no actual solution. Does anyone know of software that allows allows Windows to export the display of
its windows to an X server (ie, an X-Client wrapper for Windows)?"
allows you to export a single application rather than a full desktop, so it appears as if the app is running on a local machine instead of the server. I'm not sure if WTS supports it, but it's worth a try. Oh, and it doesn't play well with window-managers like Vern.
I read some people here say there isn't such thing YET, but as a matter of fact, there WAS. Unfortunatelly, no more.
In ye good ol' DOS times, there was DESQview/X, that allowed you to run Win 3.1 in a X-Window, and display it on any X-Server. It could also turn any 386 w/ DOS in a X-terminal.
Pretty cool stuff, but probably little market share. You can see screenshots here. More info here. If you don't care for 95/2000/XP support, as it doesn't have it, you can download DESQview/X here (I didn't test it, though.
It is just as possible to implement these features as it was for NeXTSTEP and OpenStep. However, when Apple was reimplementing the basic graphics engine (Quartz- Display PDF) to use PDF instead of PS, they choose not to implement the remote display features. Which is a shame.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
It may seem obvious, but if you can run the program under Linux in Wine, you can export the display anywhere you want it to go. Don't recommend it for games, but I did it once for a "real application" over my LAN once, just to try it, and it works fine.
Of course Wine doesn't run everything, but my experience is that if it does run something, it runs it stably. Try both wine and winex (the latter even if you aren't trying to run a game, I've had mixed experiences with both), and if it runs the app(s) you're looking to share, you're "done".
I know it's not perfect and I know it's not quite what you're looking for, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.