In my persistence to fit Linux in my life, I’m curious if some “must have” Windows software will work better if I just ran a Windows VM within Linux.

None of the software I need to work is needed to work continuously. They are basically programs that I fire up when needed, for a few minutes, then exited.

Wine will install them, but not run them, so I’m hoping a VM is the answer as I’m not interested in dual-booting to run a few Windows programs occasionally.

  • TheAgeOfSuperboredom
    121·
    3 months ago

    The software will likely work, but keep in mind that you’ll have to add VM startup time when you want to use the software. I have occasionally seen software behave strangely in a VM as well, so best to just try it.

    Can you share the software you went to use? Maybe there’s a good Linux alternative or someone knows how to get it working in wine.

    • bruce965@lemmy.ml
      151·
      3 months ago

      VM startup time can be skipped by saving state instead of shutting it down every time.

      I would say the worst issue using a VM is with programs that need the GPU (e.g. CAD softwares or games), and software with aggressive DRM.

    • Showroom7561OP
      6·
      3 months ago

      Can you share the software you went to use? Maybe there’s a good Linux alternative or someone knows how to get it working in wine.

      These are all paid programs that don’t have viable alternatives and/or I actually need to use them.

      A few off the top of my head:

      • Excire Foto
      • Jpegmini Pro
      • Garmin Basecamp
      • Garmin Express
      • several paid video editing/photo editing apps; I’ve tried alternatives, but they aren’t nearly as intuitive.
      • Reolink camera software.
      • ACP Ups software.

      I do my best to find alternatives to other software, and prefer to use self-hosted solutions, but the ones above aren’t really easy to replace, so I’d rather just run them in a VM.

      I’ve use VMs in windows to run Linux, so I’m aware of the performance hit and possible startup times (but I use snapshots for quick access). I’m not too concerned about that for any of these programs, since I’m only using them from time-to-time.