Matt O'Toole wrote:
I'd prefer Mac or Linux too, but boats usually need a Windows system
aboard to run navigation software.

I do wish there was a good nav package for Linux.


Matt,

Check out http://www.vmware.com

They have an alternative OS solution, but it costs money - not a lot,
but enough to warn you about. They make a Virtual Machine simulator
that runs as an application on most of the common operating systems,
including Linux.

The advantage here is that you can run Linux (for free) as your host OS,
then have one or more "virtual machines" running as applications that
could run a full Windows2000, Windows98, WindowsXP, MAC, etc., each
independent of the other and unaware that they aren't the primary OS.

VMware also allows the virtual machines to have (at your choice) network
connects (via the host OS) to the outside world - or not. So, if you
want to use MicroSloth products (because your favorite apps don't
support Linux yet) but you don't want to expose yourself to the
vulnerabilities of such a buggy and unsafe OS, you can install them
without network availability, run your favorite application, and
eliminate the security risks that networked Windoze systems impose, all
the while using Linux connected to the outside world.

Amusingly, when one of these virtual OS's decides to crash, your
computer (and its native OS and any other VMs) keep working along
merrily. So, although you may be used to the blue screen of death from
Mr. Gates, all that happens when your VM version crashes is that you
"reboot" that particular "application".

Another huge advantage is that each VM can be assigned a fixed amount of
disk space (I tend to make these separate partitions on the native OS
but you don't have to) and you can "back up" the entire VM (as one
single file - think of it as a full disk copy of a traditional system.

The only down sides I can think of are 1) you need to buy VMware, 2)
that VMware tends to need a lot of memory, so you pretty much want to
max out your RAM (which is nowadays very cheap), and 3) that you need a
stand alone install disk for any "client" OS's you want to install.

The last bit is true independent of VMware. It was a dirty trick MS
started using when they realized that folks might want to "reuse" their
software on other machines. What most folks didn't realize is that
when that bought that laptop or desktop "bundled" with Windoze, the OS
that came with it is "hacked" to only run on that specific machine. If
your laptop or desktop died, that OS disk that came with it can not be
used to install Windows on another machine.

So, get a decent laptop or desktop, max out the RAM, install a 40gig (or
more) disk, install Linux as the native OS, purchase VMware, create one
or more Virtual Machines (allocate 3 gigs of disk space to each) onto
which you then install one or more versions of Windows or MAC OS.

This approach, BTW, is also very useful for being able to maintain
applications that are no longer supported on newer versions of your OS.
Just run both OS as VMs, and when you need to use an older
application, switch to that virtual machine.

Cheers,

Robb