Test Driving Linux

Playing Windows Games on Linux

Linux suffers from the classic chicken-and-egg problem. Many people would love to use Linux but won't until it plays all the games they enjoy, and game companies won't write games for Linux until there are a lot of Linux users to buy them. The result is that there aren't many commercial games available on Linux, and many people who would otherwise be interested in using Linux don't do it, because playing games is too important to them.

A company called Transgaming seeks to take advantage of this situation by selling a program that allows Linux users to run their favorite Windows games on top of Linux. This program, called Cedega, does not do the job perfectly, but it may be good enough for people who really want to use Linux and who aren't hardcore gamers. See Figure 5-5 for an example of a Windows game running under Cedega.

Figure 5-5. Diablo II running under Cedega

In order to get Cedega, you need to sign up for a subscription to the software. The cost is $5 per month, with a minimum subscription of three months. For your money, you get the current version of Cedega, software updates for the length of your subscription, support from Transgaming, access to forums where other users may be able to help you with your problems, and the ability to cast a vote on which games Cedega should try to support next.

Transgaming maintains a list of the games it supports ...