hey, I am thinking of trying out linux. But what I want to know is, will linux run windows based programs and applications? sombody had told me that it can, is this true?
Yes, you can get a windows API emultaor called WinE that allows you to run most windows applications on linux (You can even run visual studio and develop windows applications using this program.
(probably best you set up a duel boot first so that you can have a working system whilst you iron out the technicalities)
Yeah, if you want to try Linux best idea is to dual boot; at least until you build up the customary hatred of Windows and start to believe you can live without it!
Go to www.winehq.com to download WINE. For gaming purposes, you can get cedega/wineX 4.0 which is devired from WINE but with DirectX and Direct3D APIs or something like that. The drawback is that you must pay for it. However you can use CVS to get it for free or search for compilied RPMs online. I managd to find WineX 3.3 which is the previous version.