| One huge question that many people have about | | | | Linux, but many of the popular ones will. The |
| the Linux operating system is how well it can | | | | first issue is if you have Linux compatible |
| handle games. There are many who use their | | | | hardware on your system. If your video card |
| computer more for gaming than for other | | | | works well with Linux, then you won't have to |
| purposes, so gaming is important. Can Linux play | | | | worry about performance issues that some meet |
| games? | | | | by not having proper drivers to run advanced 3D |
| Any game that is based on the browser alone will | | | | graphics. |
| work fine in Linux. For browser based games | | | | You can run quite a few games through WineHQ. |
| like Farmville, these will all work in browsers as | | | | This is an application that can run Windows |
| long as there are the Flash and Java plugins. | | | | software. Not everything works, but you can |
| These work the same in Linux as on any other | | | | check the site to see which ones do work. |
| operating system. | | | | Another option is to use some of the paid |
| The second type of gaming is open source | | | | programs that will correctly install and run |
| games. There are quite a few free games that | | | | Windows games on your Linux system. Many |
| are made for Linux as well as other operating | | | | don't want to have to pay for something, but |
| systems. Since these are open source, it's easy | | | | these services do work and have support for |
| for programmers to port various versions of the | | | | many of the more popular games. |
| game for the different operating system choices | | | | For older games, generally you can use |
| that exist. | | | | applications like DosBox or ScummVM that will |
| What about commercial Windows games? | | | | emulate the environment the game needs to run |
| Not every single Windows game will work with | | | | in. |