If you're a gamer or a recent linux switcher you probably think you can't play Windows games on  your linux box - or that they will run very slow and crash because they are emulating the Windows DirectX API.

Do you dual-boot Windows and Linux?  If you do, then you’re probably familiar with the different file systems that the two operating systems use and the difficulty in transferring files between the two.  While most modern Linux operating systems can read and write to Windows file systems (NTFS and FAT/FAT32), Windows can’t read or write to Linux file systems (Ext2 and Ext3).

Playing Windows games on Linux is not really a difficult task. Most gamers are reluctant to migrate to Linux because they have this misconception that Windows games cannot be played on Linux. How wrong they are. If you are one of those avid gamers that I mentioned above, here are 4 ways that you can play Windows games on Linux.

At my college, I have volunteered to teach faculty, staff, and students the advantages of using Linux. After doing it for a couple of years, I have come up with a few tips that others might find helpful when showing new Linux users the ropes.

Richard recently asked for instructions for enabling wmv files to be played on Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron). This is important since TASI has uploaded its summer school videos in wmv format. After reinstalling Ubuntu, I followed the instructions at Ubuntu Geek and that seems to have worked well. Here’s a summary.

For most hardcore gamers, Linux is taboo since they probably think that they cannot play their favorite Windows-only games with it. They do have a point of staying away from Linux, but if they knew that they can play some of their most wanted games on Linux, will they take the switch?

For many users, getting started with Linux is surprisingly easy. New, friendlier versions of the free operating system, such as Fedora and Ubuntu, feature straightforward menus and automated installations that make switching from Windows to Linux a relatively simple process.

Linux does everything that many users want it to, but some people have tasks that require Windows applications. You can dual-boot both operating systems, or run Windows in a virtualized environment on Linux. Alas, virtualization makes the guest OS almost useless for processor- and RAM-intensive tasks like editing videos and playing games. Now, a Ubuntu-based distro called andLinux takes cooperation with Windows to a whole new level.

If you dual boot with Windows and Linux, and have data spread across different partitions on Linux and Windows, you should be really in for some issues. It happens sometimes you need to access your files on Linux partitions from Windows, and you realize it isn’t possible easily. Not really, with these tools in hand - it’s very easy for you to access files on your Linux partitions from Windows

Best Greasemonkey and Stylish scripts (both are Firefox extensions).

 http://icehot.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/best-greasemonkey-and-stylish-scripts/

If you are an avid gamer, you probably dual-boot your favorite Linux distribution with Windows, because that's where you find most new cutting-edge games. But what if you could run your Windows games on Linux? PlayOnLinux is an open source Python-scripted front end that helps you install and play tons of Windows-only games -- and then some!

If you’re like me, your Ubuntu machine is on a network that is dominated by Windows machines. Fortunately, Ubuntu comes with some very easy and quick tweaks to help you get along nicely with your Windows counter parts. Here’s how.

Here’s the scenario. You have a dual boot machine, Ubuntu on one side, Windows on the other. You’re tooling around, doing your thing and then one day you boot into Windows and get this:

The Ubuntu development community has announced that the fifth Ubuntu 8.04 prerelease is now available for testing. Ubuntu 8.04 alpha 5 adds additional polish and reliability as well as a few intriguing new features. The official release of Ubuntu 8.04, codenamed Hardy Heron, is scheduled for late April and feature freeze is already in effect.

A commentary on the rising adoption of UNIX systems worldwide.

I’m going to outline today how to setup seamless window integration with Ubuntu and Virtualbox. If you missed yesterday’s post you might want to take a look at the seamless integration screenshot. No, that is not Photoshop’d, its really my desktop. I’ll also outline how to setup a shared folder between the two systems so that the icons and folders available on your XP desktop are available on your Ubuntu dekstop. So lets go ahead and dive in.

From Techthrob.com:

SSH is an incredibly powerful tool. It lets you connect to a computer anywhere in the world, share files, and even run applications remotely. This tutorial will take you through installing and configuring the SSH Server, discuss some of the basic options of the SSH client, and even show you how to run graphical applications on a remote computer, from anywhere.

Read More at Techthrob.com

Have you ever wanted to actually try Ubuntu Linux (Live CD’s don’t count) without having to worry about partitioning or installing another hard drive or setting up a dual boot? This step by step guide will walk you through the exact steps to run Ubuntu totally inside of Windows utilizing a virtual machine.

Something happen to a windows Master Boot Record (MBR) that you’re responsible for? Want a very quick, very easy way to restore it with nothing but your craft, native intelligence and a liveCD?

By far the best and most fluid feature of Ubuntu 7.10 is the ability to read and write to NTFS drives. What does that mean?  It means that you can share resources and use both drives as one!  You can share documents and settings between windows seamlessly.  You have one bookmarks file, one addressbook, one Documents directory.  Here’s how to set it up.