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Linux users enjoy the configurability and reliability of this open-source operating system, but for cool games, Windows has long been the hands-down winner. MandrakeSoft's Mandrake Linux Gaming Edition seeks to address this inequity. Like other Linux distributions, the $69 (plus $20 for shipping and handling) boxed set includes the OS (Mandrake's 8.1 distribution) and productivity tools such as StarOffice; Netscape and Mozilla browsers; and KDE and GNOME graphical desktop environments, which resemble the one in Windows. But the bundle also includes TransGaming Technologies' WineX, a new implementation of the Microsoft DirectX APIs that enables Windows games to run under Linux. You also get Electronic Arts' popular game The Sims.

Installing a shipping copy was a single-click, 45-minute operation that also put a Sims icon on my PC's desktop; when launched, the game looked and felt the way you'd expect it to under Windows.

If you want to try other games, though, you'll need to subscribe to TransGaming's update service to get the latest version of WineX (you also get to vote on what games the company should support next). Mandrake's 8.1 Gaming Edition includes a free 90-day subscription; thereafter, the service costs $5 a month.

According to TransGaming, WineX already works with dozens of Windows games, including Accolade's Redline Racer and Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft. But I was able to play games other than The Sims only after a Linux expert helped me tweak my PC--and even then some of them wouldn't run full-screen.

TransGaming may eventually get Windows games running out of the box. But for now, novices should stick to Windows for games.

SUMMARY

MandrakeSoft Mandrake Linux Gaming Edition Mandrake's distribution and The Sims worked well, but stick to Windows for 3D gaming. List: $69

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