[NTLUG:Discuss] slightly OT - the fate of this box

[kbrannen@gte.net]

fredjame wrote:
...
> The box is a laptop they got for free (micropc.com TransPort LT) with NT 
> installed - P-III 600MHz, 256 MB memory, 10 GB HD, built in NIC, 
> swapable CD and Floppy drives (share a single bay), stuff like that.  
> They want to fit it up for their little kids (very young) to play games 
> on (Disney stuff).  All the games are Win95/98 compatible.
...
> I got to thinking it would be wonderful (IMHO) to introduce a bit of 
> Linux to the kids while we are at it - if that isn't too sneaky - so I 
> want to ask for some opinions and/or advise.
> 
> What if I loaded say Mandrake 9.1 and Win4Lin 5.x, and then installed 
> their Win98 into the Win4Lin (or I could do Red Hat 7.3 and VMware 
> Workstation 4)?  Does anybody think the Disney games would play alright 
> there?

First thing I'd do is to go check the Linux Laptop site about this thing, to 
see how well supported it is (what others have to say about it).  See 
http://www.linux-laptop.net/

Assuming that looks good, you have only 1 hurdle left (that I can forsee). 
Can Win4Lin or VMware run with sufficent speed to make the games playable? 
The only way to know is probably trial & error.  I don't have any experience 
with Win4Lin, but I do have enough with VMware that I'm sure it would work 
just fine, if it can get enough resources.

HTH,
Kevin