linux to look like windows xp?

for linux is there any converter software or anyhting so you can make the desktop look exatly like windows even with my ocmputer and control panel and stuff like that, becouse if so, then i will consider installing linux mandrake on a seperate partition on my hdd, becouse there is no way i am getting rid of windows xp

 

Your best bet may be Linspire which is designed with that in mind, don't know about the Control Panel though as that is very specific to the OS.

This page will probably help as well.

 

ok, thanks for the help

 

Linux is customizable enough to look like just about any OS. My question is why would you want to? Linux looks a lot better than XP, at least IMHO.

-AT

 

Yes that's Gnome, although you could make KDE look the same if you wanted. Check out KDE-Look.org.

 

i supose everything exept the bottom start bar looks better than windows, hmmm, if i got gta san andreas to work on linux, would i get better performance on it than what i would get on windows, i am considering clearing a partition of my hdd and getting linux on it within the next few days, could you tell me some programs i will need to get all my applications and games to work on linux, and were to get instructions to use these applications to get my apps and games to work, i really want to give linux a try, is it like rock hard to actually start, like setting internet and everyhitng up?

 

Linux is not Windows, nor is it Windows compatible. It's a completely different OS, and it doesn't even try to be like Windows. In fact, it's based on the Unix design, which is vastly different. What I'm getting at is that the benefit of Linux is not that it can run Windows software better than Windows, because it can't. In fact, Linux only runs Linux software, just as Windows only runs Windows software. Of course, there is a Linux program called Cedega which specializes in allowing many Windows games to run flawlessly in Linux. It looks like GTA-SA does work with Cedega, although how well I can't say, since I've never tried it myself. Check their game database to see if the Windows programs you're interested in running will work well enough to bother with.

I must say though, to me if I can play a Windows games in Linux it's just gravy. I use my OS very heavily; I couldn't even switch back to Windows if I wanted to (which I don't, and I wouldn't). I use Linux because it's secure, stable, free (as in libre as well as in gratis), and I find it a much more productive work environment than Windows. I like it because since part of my job is working on PCs, I don't want to have to work on my own system constantly as insult to injury. Linux just works.

Of course it is always better to run programs which are natively written for the OS you're running. On that note, there are hundreds of games for Linux, both commercial and free, and more are written every day. Many popular games such as Doom3, UT2k4, and Enemy Territory have native Linux versions, which run wonderfully. In fact, I've noticed that ET consistently gets much higher framerates in Linux than its Windows counterpart. But the vast majority of PC games are written for Windows, not Linux, so if gaming is the sole function of your PC Linux will let you down. Conversely, if gaming is not your primary endevour and you want a stable, powerful, secure, multi-tasking, multi-user system which is a big change from Windows, you'll love Linux.

-AT