The "best" version & Multisim on Linux?

[eflan]

Hey there,

I recently purchased a used laptop for use with school. Now, for some reason (that really boggles my mind) the previous owner had Win7 Ultimate x64 installed on the poor thing with all the settings cranked up and naturally it is extremely sluggish.

Specs are... Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz, 1GB Ram, & Onboard Intel Graphics.

I realize that if I buy another stick of ram it would run better, but I can't find any of the ram it likes for under $90/GB locally. Since I paid for $120 for the laptop and will only have it a few months, I really can't justify that. Likewise, I can't find a copy of XP... and if I could I probably couldn't justify the price. It has a Vista sticker on the laptop... but I already burned that T-Shirt and I don't want another.

I'm making restore disks for when I sell it again, and then I'm going to format the hdd and start over.

My question is this: which version of Kubuntu would run best on this system? I'm familiar with Natty - I use it on my desktop - but would the LTS (Lucid Lynx) release be a better choice? Or an older version? Also, which version would probably have the fewest installation hiccups on an older Toshiba business laptop? (Satellite Pro) I'm mostly concerned about the sound and wireless. I should probably just grab a few liveCDs and see which works best, shouldn't I? Get the device IDs and go bother Google.

Something that's probably been asked before... Since I don't have much ram, is it worth grabbing the 64 bit version of linux?

Finally, one software question that I'm not sure anyone could answer. For one of my classes I use a program called Electronics Workbench by National Instruments (also known as Multisim 10). They won't accept substitutes or I'd just go dig around in the repositories. Has anyone managed to get it to work? The WineHQ website says its garbage on wine 1.2 - would the current version be any different? One person out of the 7 reviews was able to get it to do basic things by copying over a preexisting windows installation.

[GreyGeek]

Re: The "best" version & Multisim on Linux?

It's new, fast, lite DE built with Qt: Razor-Qt.

Razor-qt is an advanced, easy-to-use, and fast desktop environment based on Qt technologies. It has been tailored for users who value simplicity, speed, and an intuitive interface. Unlike most desktop environments, Razor-qt also works fine with weak machines.

[Telengard]

Re: The "best" version & Multisim on Linux?

Have you tried running Multisim with Wine? It may work.

I used gEDA to design my circuits for two semesters, and it worked okay. It is in the Ubuntu repos.

You may find more helpful resources at one of these places:

• SPICE
• Open Circuit Design
• fREEDA

HTH

EDIT

Oh, if Multisim will not run with Wine, then you can always setup a Windows virtual machine in Virtualbox.

LTSpice is an alternative Windows software for circuit design and analysis.

[eflan]

Re: The "best" version & Multisim on Linux?

First, thank-you both for your replies.

It's new, fast, lite DE built with Qt: Razor-Qt.

Pardon my noobishness, but I just want to clarify this one. It looks like you install a separate distro first (such as ubuntu 10.04), add the Razor-QT repository, install the packages and then change it to the new desktop environment in the options somewhere? Is that correct, or would it become a separate boot/login option?

I was thinking that I might be better of with xfce instead since it's more lightweight, but I'm definitely interested in trying more than one thing.

Have you tried running Multisim with Wine? It may work.

I used gEDA to design my circuits for two semesters, and it worked okay. It is in the Ubuntu repos.

I haven't tried it in Wine yet, I dualboot windows on my desktop so haven't had the need. But it sure would be nice to get that part of my lab reports done during a certain five hour break between classes this coming semester (I commute - driving home isn't an option). I've also never used Wine before, so to be honest I'm sort of worried about banging my head against the wall for hours when there's no chance of getting it to work. A challenge is fine - wasting my time is something else.

Unfortunately, unless those linux programs use the same file format as Multisim I can't use them. My prof wants printouts & the file emailed to him. PITA.

[Telengard]

Re: The "best" version & Multisim on Linux?

I'm sort of worried about banging my head against the wall for hours when there's no chance of getting it to work. A challenge is fine - wasting my time is something else.

Understood, you are locked into using Multisim. So use Multisim.

Install Virtualbox from the package manager. Create a new virtual machine. Install Windows on it. Install Multisim in Windows. Done.

If you want to share files between the Windows guest and Kubuntu host you can do it with Virtualbox's Shared folders facility. It isn't hard at all.

[Telengard]

Re: The "best" version & Multisim on Linux?

To get better performance from your (relatively) low-spec system, consider Lubuntu. It's not all spiffy like Kubuntu, but it should perform well enough for you.

I think your laptop is more powerful than the desktop I'm posting from right now, running Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. I wouldn't recommend installing an old version of Kubuntu. Better to get the latest Lubuntu.

[GreyGeek]

Re: The "best" version & Multisim on Linux?

.....

It's new, fast, lite DE built with Qt: Razor-Qt.

Pardon my noobishness, but I just want to clarify this one. It looks like you install a separate distro first (such as ubuntu 10.04), add the Razor-QT repository, install the packages and then change it to the new desktop environment in the options somewhere? Is that correct, or would it become a separate boot/login option?

I was thinking that I might be better of with xfce instead since it's more lightweight, but I'm definitely interested in trying more than one thing.
....

You are correct. Install Ubuntu, add the Razor-Qt repository, update and then install razor-qt. Choose it on the login screen and make it the default DE. It will have about the same MIME connectivity that KDE4 enjoys without the memory footprint of KDE4.