Many people can see the value for a Windows-like environment for Linux users. However I am having a hard time with a Linux environment for Windows? Why would anyone want this? Just use Linux on a bootable CD!

Ever tried this query in Google: “Linux-like environment for windows” with inverted commas? If you have, it gives exactly 13,700 results (at the time of publishing). Now try the same other way around. Google “Windows environment for linux” but don’t use the quotes from previous query. It yields approximately 1,150 results. This clearly shows that there are numerous applications that simulate a Linux environment on Windows and vice versa. But are all these applications really required?

A famous “Linux like environment for Windows” is Cygwin. Cygwin is a collection of free software tools originally developed by Cygnus Solutions to allow various versions of Microsoft Windows to act somewhat like a Unix system. It aims mainly at porting software that runs on POSIX systems (such as Linux systems, BSD systems, and Unix systems) to run on Windows with little more than a recompilation. Programs ported with Cygwin work best on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, but some may run acceptably on Windows 95 and Windows 98. Cygwin is currently maintained by employees of Red Hat and others. Source: OSWeekly

Tags: windows 2000, windows xp, windows nt, windows server 2003, linux-like environment, posix systems, unix systems