i'm really new to linux. actually, i'm new to computers in general. my brother gave me a free (guilt gift?) computer, on the condition that i run it with linux (he's still my brother, and has to be a pain in my ass somehow.) i have kubuntu installed on my computer. there are a couple of problems with this: i homeschool, and most children's educational software is compatible only with windows. secondly, i have an online-job that requires a windows-only download for billing and live chat consultations with clients. my brother will be messaging me in a few minutes to see what kind of help he can offer (he used to work for The Enemy, microsoft, hense the fanatical devotion to linux). he told me of a program called wine, that i guess is tricky to configure but will allow me to run some windows programs on linux. if anyone can offer help or advice, they will be my hero.
you could always load windows on it as well, so you can run these programs, and run linux whenever hes around. IF he notices that you have windows, you can always say that his condition was that it ran linux, which it still does, and not that it doesnt run windows. if indeed that was his condition
don't know...my brother just rebuilt it & shipped it, he didn't tell me much about it. i'm learning as i go. he's trying to make me crazy, i know he is. anyway, we installed wine, and it seems to be running the program i needed for work, and it seems to be running ok. don't know how it'll work with the kids' software though
Alternately, if wine doesn't work, you can always download and x86 emulator and run windows on the emulator in linux. Probably be slow as hell, but eh..