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Hello, the question is: which is the best software to emulate windows? there is 1 piece of software we use in a daily basis and was writen with .net, so there is not a quick and easy way to port it to linux. I have already tryed virtualbox from sun, but there is 1 problem with printers; when using virtualbox in a machine which hosts a shared printer, the other machines cant use it because virtualbox doesnt let them, then the user has to quit the virtual machine each time another user needs to print, then that option has to be discarted. Many users has problems with virus and malware, so we were thinking about migrating to linux... it made sense, most things can be done in linux flawlessly but this single program is the most important and it cant be emulated by itself, only inside a virtual machine... I know there are a few solutions around but I dont have the time to try each one, then I would like to hear about other people's experiences. Thanks in advance!

For .net applications, you need to install Mono. No guarantee that it will work, but it might/should/good luck. On the other hand, you can install a virtual machine manager, such as Sun's VirtualBox (free) and install Windows itself in a VM. Then, your program will run just fine since it will, in fact, be running in Windows.

Sometimes real fast is almost as good as real time. Remember, Google is your friend!

I haven't had that experience (printer lockup), but t don't usually link to my Linux print server (cups). But yes, I did skip over it and directly to answering the original question. Too much stuff going on here, I suppose - distractions monitoring realtime events on one screen, trying to read/answer these posts on another one... my bad.

Sometimes real fast is almost as good as real time. Remember, Google is your friend!

[quote=blinky]Wondering if virtual box is grabbing the actual printer device (USB?).[/quote] Yes, virtualbox grabs the usb port, this happens to me all the time with flashdisks. You can install the printer on linux and share it with the virtualized windows through network sharing using samba.