VirtualBox may be free, but you still have to own a copy of Windows. If you’re not willing to shell out a few hundred dollars to Microsoft but still want to run Windows on your Intel-based Mac, there is one more alternative: CrossOver from CodeWeavers costs $40 and runs Windows applications on Mac OS X — without Windows.

A quick search on Google for tutorials regarding Linux and Windows interoperability, will reveal a lot of guides on how to install (emulate) Windows on a virtual machine inside Linux or how to migrate from Windows to Linux or how to dual boot Windows and Linux, but what I was really looking for was a way to run Windows and Linux at the same time, on the same machine; sharing the same desktop, work

Switching operating systems can be tough. When you get accustomed to certain applications sometimes it can be hard to learn how to use other ones. I recently installed Ubuntu Eee (soon to be Easy Peasy) on my Eee PC 901 and it took quite a while to find apps that cam do everything I can do within Mac OS X and Windows. Here’s a quick guide so you can make your Linux machine feel like home.

andLinux is a complete Ubuntu Linux system running seamlessly in Windows 2000 based systems (2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7; 32-bit versions only).

andLinux uses coLinux, a port of the Linux kernel to Windows which allows andLinux to run almost all Linux applications in Windows, without modifications and comes in two flavors: KDE and XFCE.

In your Ubuntu machine, when you click on the ‘X’ (close button) on any applications, you will find that some of them will exit while some will minimize to the system tray.

You might be interested in trying out Linux applications, but the idea of creating a dual boot system, using slow Live CDs, or setting up a VM doesn’t appeal to you. Today we take a look at andLinux which allows you to run Linux applications on your Windows computer.

Jeremy White, co-founder and CEO of CodeWeavers, talked to Microsoft Subnet today about how Wine might make IT professionals a lot merrier. For those wanting to save money on desktops by using Linux, but feel trapped into Windows because of the need to run Windows apps, Wine can help.

The open-source Wine project is less a solution and more a workaround when it comes to the issue of running Windows applications on Linux.