linux accounting software or cheap winxp

[Jerry Feldman]

I found that Virtualbox tended to perform better on my Linux laptop. 
Performance of a VM iv very dependent on the amount of memory you use. 
Vista requires more memory than Windows XP, and more than Windows NT. 
Also, VMWare server can be very slow on a single processor laptop. You 
would need VMWare Workstation or Player, but again, I would recommend 
VirtualBox for an older PC, and KVM if you have a chip that supports 
hardware virtualization (Intel VT or AMD-V).  Virtualbox, KVM (should be 
included in most distros), VMWare Player are all free downloads and you 
could also run Windows NT as a guest.

Today I would recommend against dual booting on todays laptops since 
most are dual core or better, and you can add more memory. If you don't 
find a native Linux accounting package that suits your needs, first try 
to see if your old package can run under WINE (or Crossover Office).

In summary this is what I would do:
1. If you find a native accounting package that suits your needs, then 
use it
2. If you can run your accounting package under WINE, it should perform 
better than using a VM. (I was able to run QuickBooks under Crossover 
Office).
3. Use a workstation VMM (like VMWare Workstation, Virtualbox, KVM/QEMU, 
Xen). Most can run Windows NT or Windows Vista. And remember, 
performance is very much a factor of memory.

On 02/13/2009 06:29 PM, Lloyd Kvam wrote:
> I've been using accounting software on my old winNT computer, which is
> just about dead.  I was able to close out the year by moving the
> software to my Linux laptop and using crossover office.  However, there
> are too many glitches to stick with this for the long term.
>
> I could not find any adequate business accounting packages for Linux.
> Intuit offers web based accounting BUT even their web based accounting
> requires winXP/Vista and IE.  If any of you know of an alternative that
> will work with Linux let me know.
>
> Vista was discarded off my daughter's new laptop.  I can run Vista using
> vmware, but the performance is poor.  I'm thinking of getting a winXP
> netbook.  I could move winXP into a vmware server and install a Linux
> distro on the netbook.  Or even get a netbook with a disk drive and
> split it between winXP and Linux.  Simply buying winXP is well over $100
> and I don't get much for my money.  At least a netbook gives me a useful
> piece of hardware.
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=34-220-441
>
> Any opinions?
>
>   


-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id: 537C5846
PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB  CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846


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