Slashdot Mirror


Linspire To Run Windows Games

Ken writes "Aviran's Place reports that Linspire and TransGaming released Cedega for the Linspire desktop Linux operating system, allowing Linspire users to play hundreds of popular Windows-format games right out of the box."

22 of 460 comments (clear)

  1. Portability by SadPenguin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not a linspire fan, but i think its about time someone's thinking this way. Portability is key for widespread acceptance, and I like cedega, because in my experience, it works.

    --
    sigSEGV - doy!
    1. Re:Portability by Khuffie · · Score: 4, Insightful
      If people at least try it, they might see that it's a pretty decent OS.

      Linux has one major hurdle to overcome. It's not the interface, as Gnome/KDE are pretty user friendly, but this: installing programs. I'm a pretty savvy computer user (for windows/ os x), but I've never had any luck running Linux. Using the default set of programs that come with your distribution is fine, but when trying to get anything else installed is a nightmare. Most programs require using the terminal, apt-get or, dare I say it, compile from sources. Until Linux has the ability to just download a file, double click it and install (for all distros, not just one), it'll still be out of reach for regular users. Just my 2 cents.

  2. Most Importantly... by nxtr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does it play Solitaire?

  3. ongoing cost by Laz7 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    at 45USD a year, I think I will pass on that ...

  4. Linux Games by ndansmith · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can play the games right out of the box, assuming that you can get functional drivers for your video card. For all of us who use ATI cards for games, this is not so exciting.

  5. No need for choice? by null+etc. · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Gamers don't have to choose between Linux and Windows anymore," said Kevin Carmony, president and CEO of Linspire, Inc.

    They especially don't have to choose if they decide to say with Windows. I love marketing speak.

  6. Cedega and "Out of the box" in the same sentence!? by cybereal · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Oh come now. Just try to install Warcraft III with Cedega.

    I'm serious, that's the only game I was really hoping to play with Cedega when I tried it out. It flopped hard core, yet, WC3 is on their list of supported games with a flag indicating that it is playable.

    Lies.

    --
    I read the script, and I think it would help my character's motivation if he was on fire. -Bender
  7. Wow, I wonder why nobody thought of that by jbellis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe it's because having to save all your work, rebooting, rebooting again when your game is done, and restoring all your applications to the right state is a HUGE WASTE OF TIME.

    Right now, for instance, I have 12 applications open, only a few of which have entirely satisfactory auto-restore-after-shutdown functionality.

    1. Re:Wow, I wonder why nobody thought of that by advocate_one · · Score: 5, Funny
      Wow, you keep twelve applications up while you're playing a game?

      yes, this is Linux we're talking about here... not ms-windows, where it's obligatory to shut everything else down prior to starting up a game... just in case...

      --
      Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
    2. Re:Wow, I wonder why nobody thought of that by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 5, Insightful

      seriously though, i doubt you run your games with all those files/applications going on at the same time sapping your ram and cpu speed...

      Spoken like a Windows user. My web browser, mail application, messaging client, calendar, terminals, text editor, image viewer, layout application, and a dozen more have been running non-stop for the last several weeks. Why would I shut them down to run a game? Any system with decent multitasking and prioritization will not use any real CPU cycles or hog the rRAM on applications just sitting open while I'm playing a game.

      Note, this is on a couple year old laptop running OS X. The games I usually play are some older ones, like UT2003, Warcraft 3, Neverwinter nights, and a handful of less cpu/gpu intensive but fun games.

      Maybe you should use a good OS for a month and see what it is you're missing. I'm very unlikely to ever reboot to play a game, nor am I ever going to quit all my running applications.

  8. Re:That's What They Said in the First Place by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Robertson didn't know what he was talking about. He'd seen WINE in action, and assumed that it was close to being a complete replacement for Windows. He then went on to include it with Lindows and promised the world that he'd be Windows compatible. Somewhere along the line he learned the horrible truth (Win32 is an ugly, broken, and complex moving target) and backed off his claims.

    Unfortunately, this left Lindows in a bit of a lurch because it was less secure than most Linux distributions, and only had its application repository to carry it. My guess is that the Microsoft vs. Lindows lawsuit was what kept them on the map. Without all the press, it's posslble they would have languished into obscurity. Since then, the renamed Linspire has been slowly building back up to Windows compatibility.

  9. Re:Windows just isn't that expensive by qewl · · Score: 4, Insightful

    http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20020531/windows _gaming-06.html

    Yes, actually it is about half the speed on Linux. But I still think it will become faster. I also think Wine/CVS may catch up to WineX/Cedega in a year or so. After all, the real goal is to not have to leave Linux for atnything.

    --

    (\_/)
    (O.o) This is Bunny. (> <)
  10. Not interested by Thomas+DM · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not really interesting.

    Cedaga costs $44.95 and you also need Linspire Five-0 which costs $49.95 so that's almost $95.

    I'd rather have a dual-boot system with Windows than some sort of emulation software that may not boot a quarter of my games.

  11. Hundreds eh?... by Timbo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What they say: "allowing Linspire users to play hundreds of popular Windows-format games right out of the box."

    What they mean: "about 90 or so games run after spending hours changing config files and trying different version of cedega. 90 is nearly 100 right?"

  12. Please note that by hyperstation · · Score: 5, Funny

    using an "it costs less" argument will not work:

    Windows XP Pro, via bittorrent: $0
    Game X, Y, Z, *and* A, via bittorrent: $0
    Total: $0

  13. Re:Windows just isn't that expensive by mrchaotica · · Score: 5, Interesting
    1. I build all my own desktops, and my laptop is a Mac. Hence, I don't already have a copy of Windows.
    2. Windows is not cheap; it's ~$200 retail.
    3. Even if I wanted to spend the money, I sure as hell don't want to sell my soul to the Windows Activation scheme!
    4. Why should I have to reboot my desktop -- which has an uptime of several months -- just to play a game?
    5. Actually, some games run faster under Wine than they do natively. Besides, as long as it's "fast enough" I don't really care if it could be a little faster on Windows.
    6. The way to combat the illegal bundling isn't to bend over and take it, but to refuse to submit.
    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  14. Cedega is not an answer.. by kuzb · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...It's a gateway to thousands more user problems. While my hat is off to the Transgaming team for their countless hours of time, effort and dedication to the winex project, and gaming on linux in general, it's far from a good solution. Certainly not one I would unleash on the clueless.

    Most games don't play well, or play with really annoying issues. For example, many in-game videos do not play properly in Cedega, and if you can't skip them, you might be sitting there a long time waiting for them to finish. A good example of this is Black and White, where the opening video can't be skipped, and plays at about 3fps.

    There was (may be fixed now, I don't know) another issue where you couldn't install games spanning multiple CDs without copying the contents of those CDs to the hard drive. So now you're involving the commandline, and/or file managers in order to install a game. Not quite as point-and-click easy as windows.

    Many games which rely on Directplay for their multiplayer functionality do not work at all. Warcraft 3 is a good example of this. Works great single player (assuming you skip all the in-game videos) but fails horribly in multiplayer.

    Lastly, most copy protections are not recognised under Cedega/Linux, forcing the user to go out and find a crack for their game.

    The solution here is not to run Windows games, but to find more ways to convince major game developers that they should release ports to linux directly. All this Linspire/Transgaming thing is going to do is frustrate people who just want to play games. It will unquestionably leave more with a negative opinion of Linux in general.

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  15. Forget games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think consumers are more worried about anti-virus software and spyware blockers. I mean, I looked around and I found virtually *no* anti-virus software for linux desktops! If only I could run Norton Antivirus in Wine, then I could *really* make the switch!

    Heck, Linux also needs to get up-to-speed on good defrag software, desktop-icon cleaner software, and maybe a closely bundled browser and media player! There are _a lot_ of opportunites for Wine in this space I believe.

    Heck, couldn't someone make a linux distro that boots into X/Wine by default?

  16. Wrong solution by suitepotato · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Pure and simple if the Linux community is going to squak about Windows, bash Microsoft, and copy everything they do, then they might as well quit now. Innovation and providing the end users with what they want is where it is at. Microsoft does it, Linux doesn't. Simple.

    TuxRacer proves that decent graphics and speed are possible natively on Linux. Linux based game design and publishing is needed, not using Windows games on Linux. As Linux is proven to be capable of running games of its own just fine, more publishers will port their games natively to Linux. Trying to co-opt Windows apps onto Linux is kludgy and ultimately screams "we're unoriginal me-too hacks". The Linux world needs to innovate, carve its own path, and create not copy. Until then, it isn't going to be getting where we want it to go, which is to be loved for being what it is and not used simply because we are angry with Microsoft.

    --
    If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
    1. Re:Wrong solution by deaddrunk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Which is indeed the case until you remember that one OS has a stranglehold on the market. Look at the alternatives to MS Office. What's the first thing they need to offer to stand a chance? Compatibility with the beast.

      Microsoft did this themselves with their ability to read and write Lotus and guides to using Word if you're used to Wordperfect.

      If there were 10 equal games in town instead of one Linux would already be shining; as it is it has to be compatible with the platform that the overwhelming majority of software only runs on.

      --
      Does a Christian soccer team even need a goalkeeper?
  17. Win is a dead end for games by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Most gamers have moved on to platforms like PS2, and are drooling while they see the specs on the PS3 (or whatever they were calling it last week) and the GameFrog (or whatever the Nintendo thing is).

    Seriously, I can't remember the last time I bought a Windows game. Maybe a few years ago? So long as I can get Fable (ya ya, so it's xBox, but it's not even that great) and Lego Star Wars and Sims: The Urbz and suchlike, why would I want to buy a Win game?

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  18. ATI? by phorm · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, if you're using an ATI card you won't be doing too badly. They are making linux drivers which seem to be improving over time. There are issues with the drivers and they aren't as good as the NVidia ones, but then again even my windows ATI drivers have done some pretty funky things before.

    Now, for other craptacular cards such as the various intel, etc brands... you're going to be in trouble indeed. Many laptops and onboard video sets use them. They don't perform well in windows, and - in my experience - are even more troublesome (and unsupported) in 'nix thus far.