Tak skal du have :-)

(For the Danish challenged: Thanks).

Yes thanks. It was actually the one we got closest to working, but it failed to start properly. My son told me that it had installed the US version of WoW and that his account (which he uses from school) is european, so it refused to start. Or something like that.

At this point it just seems a whole lot easier to go with Windows.

Sorry, but how, exactly?

We do not have any World of Warcraft install mediums, so we resort to some sort of online install thingy (been a couple of weeks since we last tried, and I have forgot the details). I think the last we tried was PlayOnLinux - took several hours, and as far as we could tell, it eventually installed a US version. However, the account/whatever my kid has is European, and for that reason it refused to work. Or something in that neighbourhood.

At this point, going with Windows just seems so much easier. For this particular usage.

I did not actually say I can't afford it. I said I was surprised by the price. We live in Denmark, and the cheapest full install of Windows 7 here is kr. 1.399,- which is approx. $244.

Yes, I have a spare Lenove T400. This is a four year old laptop which I used myself until quite recently. No, I do not have the windows medium or license that came with it.

How much money I spend on this, even for my kids, is a choice. Up until recently, my kids have not really been lacking in the "video games" department. Now my son wants to play a game that we are unable to support on the platforms we have. So, we need a new platform. I am actually trying to supply that to him (with the kind help of Slashdot users). I think that Windows PC gaming is not so relevant now, as it used to be. At least is has not been for my kid and his friends. So I am reluctant to just pay out $1000 dollars for a new Windows PC/laptop.

Yes. What can I say? I could not make it work. We tried Wine, Crossover and PlayOnLinux using various approaches. All failed in various ways.

I am not exactly happy about this. However, that is the reality, and at this point I don't think my kid should "pay" more for his dads lack of technical skills.

And, I used to actually run Doom servers. Under Linux. On Novell networks, using IPX. That was approx. 1995. Of course, the Doom binaries were Linux native, but still, IPX was sort of foreign to Linux, and the installs were "complicated".

I think the big difference from then to now is lack of time, and that I do not do this for myself, but for my kids. He just wants to play with his friends. He don't really care a lot about all the time his "computerwise" dad uses to (not) get it to work. His friends just boots dads Windows PC and plays...

Thanks for your answer.

Sorry, I did not really appreciate that T400's vary that much.

The T400 I have here, has an Intel Core 2 Duo P9500 @ 2.53 GHz, and a ATI RV620 [Mobility Radeon HD 3400], 4GB of ram, and 120 GB of SSD. The CPU seems to match recommended, and the GPU is somewhere just below minimum?

There is a cost thing here - if he wants more beefy hardware, he must raise the money.

Thanks for your answer.

I realise that you are correct. However, I have not been able to make it work! We tried Wine, Crossover and PlayOnLinux. Each of the them bailed out at various points. Some of our "tests" were very, very close, but failed after huge downloads. I think we were almost there with PlayOnLinux, but it appears that it installed a US version of WoW, and we live in Europe, and for some reason this then was not OK.

I do realise that not making it work may be a shortcoming of mine. However, my kid should not have to miss playing with his friends, because of his fathers lack of technical skills in getting Wine to work.

Thanks for your answer.

We considered Apple because it is my impression that it is more secure (out of the box) than Windows. Also, I believe he can continue to run a number of linux programs on it?

I may be mistaken.

Also, a lot of the "cool kids" (older kids in school) appears to choose Apple laptops. (iPod, iPhone, iPad, iPaid?)...

The cheapest price I have been able to find here in Denmark is kr. 1399,- which is $244,-. I was surprised by this.

Thanks for your answer.

We did try out both Crossover and PlayOnLinux. I have forgotten the specifics of what did not work, but I did not manage to make any of them work. I realise this is/should be possible - but regrettably I could not make it work. I think PlayOnLinux was closest, but that it installed the US version of WoW. Because we are in Europe, this apparently did not work. Or something. For some of the things we tried, the result was log files full of unsuccesfull calls to obscure Windows APIs. I have lost count of the hours we have used on this.

There may very well be ways around this, but I have reached the point where I don't care anymore. My son should not be limited from the social experience playing WoW with his friends is, because of his dads shortcomings, or stubbornes regarding choice of OS.

Thanks for you kind answer.

Yes, we do backups: daily rsync backups of the latops, mirrored disks in the "home server", nightly backups to the NAS, regular backups to mobile drive stored in fireproof safe, and occasional backups to mobile drives stored "off-site". I am paranoid about loosing pictures, videos and so on due to hardware failures, fire or theft - but clueless about protecting a Windows 7 installation for virus, malware, etc...

Thanks a lot for your answer.

I don't think I have really avoided Windows with a passion! I simply have not had a need for it - until now. Linux does what I need it to do.

My kids should be safe: Windows is used heavily in their schools. But, the cool kids (in the older classes mostly) use Apple laptops now, btw.

Submitter here:

Step 1: There is no windows to uninstall. There are literally no Windows installations in this house, (and actually never have been, as we built the house in 2004, but that is another story). The kid in question - my 12 year old son - does run Linux (Kubuntu 12.04) and uses e.g. Scratch from MIT for programming, libreoffice for school work, minecraft for, well, minecraft and so on, and so on. Oh, and he runs his own minecraft server.

But, no, I can't get WoW and LOL to work with/under Linux (neither can he). Starting point is some semi-old laptop (not the T400, which have just become available recently), running Kubuntu 12.04. Been through various permutations of Wine, Crossover and some "just install this, guaranteed to work, autoinstall Wow" permutation of crossover (I think, have forgotten the details). For all, it looks as "the right thing" happens, but eventually it turns out something or other does not work, e.g. the system is left for 24 hours to download the last 1% and it just does not happen. I think the last approach we tried, we ended up installing a US version (?) and beeing in Europe, this apparently (eventually) failed to start. Or something. I have lost count of the hours we have used. I simply can not make it work, and I do not know any persons that can. I could possibly hire someone to do it, but I have no idea if it ends there. What if all his friends plays "FunkyNewGame" next year, that only runs under Windws? What then? Make no mistake: I consider Windows in this context simply a console, much like the PS3 - but a console that needs a lot more handhelding than the PS3 (And, I understand that WoW does not run on the Xbox).

Now, beside that I personally have other things to use my time on, all this fidling is also a very frustrating experience for my kid. I do not expect you to understand this, especially not, if you have no kids, but he gets his hopes up high, and sort of thinks his dad is "the shit" for finally making this work, and then, after 4-5 hours of reading, installing, downloading, and whatnot, it just does not work. And, another day/week/month has gone by with him still not beeing able to play WoW/LOL with his friends. So, as I stated, I am going to bite the bullet and get Windows. For this particular purpose. (Oh, and possibly to reprogram the properitary house control system of this house, which was the only legal option to install, according to Danish Law, when the house was built - but again, that is another story).

You may argue that my linux skills are inadequeate because of this - you may be perfectly right. The sad truth is then, that my Windows skills are even worse.

Interesstingly, about 80% of drivers believe they are better drivers than average.