[Coco] OT: MS shenanigans, XP, Win10...

[Francis Swygert]

Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 13:26:11 -0700
From: Wayne Campbell <asa.rand at gmail.com>

Thanks for the info on Mint. I might just go that route when I get a new
system. The only thing I will miss from Windows is the 3rd party software
that doesn't have versions for other OSes. I like TextPad for my text
editing. It is a programmer's editor and gives me capabilities I have never
found in any other text editor. I am a Sokoban player, and while there are
versions of the game for other OSes (Mac in particular), my favorite is
called Sokoban YASC and is only written for Windows. It is written in
Delphi Pascal, which is a neat thing to me. I don't know if it could be
recompiled for other platforms or not. There are a few others, but they
aren't as important to me as the two named above.===================================
Programs that stick strictly to MS programming conventions usually run under WINE on Linux. Not an emulator, WINE is re-written APIs and such things that Windows uses (I'm not a programmer any more, just did some BASIC stuff way back when on the CoCo!), re-written to run on Linux. A program may run a little slower, but there is usually no big difference in speed. Most applications run without fault -- MS Office is the "test" or "target" application -- but a few have issues. Some games have issues, but there are work arounds for the popular games. Most of the ones that have issues are the hard core graphic games. Many of those either use custom APIs or work around Windows and write directly to hardware. If it's a popular game there may be a WINE patch for it (either patching WINE, using a custom API, or patching the software). 

The way Linux programmers work programs are modular. I hate that sometimes! I needed an easy to use mailing label database for a little magazine I used to print. I just wanted an address database that would print labels. No such animal in Linux! There are several address database programs that are easy to use, and several address label printing programs, but nothing tying the two into one package. You had to decide which two you were going to use then link them, which should be easy (I didn't try). I think that's making more work than is necessary. To update labels I would have had to run one program, when I wanted to print run another. For something so simple that's an inefficient way to do it. If you're a Linux expert don't tell me how much more flexible such an arrangement is, I've already been through that! Just accept that such things can be inefficient and cumbersome for such simple things -- I'm sure it's fine for more complex programs. Anyway, I ended up running the same program I'd used under XP on Linux with no issues. I installed WINE, then installed the software -- almost that simple! You have to run the software installer with a command line telling it to use WINE, but that's all. It's been a while! I purchased CodeWeavers Crossover product (https://www.codeweavers.com/products/crossover-linux/) to  make things easier. They have a streamlined GUI installer and I wanted that. It's not necessary, just a slight bit easier. When at the CrossOver website scroll down and look at the "CrossOver Differentiators" page to see the differences between WINE and CrossOver. 

Sokoban is not listed in the "What Runs" database, but TextPad has a "gold" rating, meaning it should run the same as it does under Windows. It's unsupported my CodeWaevers, meaning that they haven't tested it themselves, but USERS report that it runs without a problem. 

 Frank Swygert
 Fix-It-Frank Handyman Service
 803-604-6548