Anybody know how to use PlayOnLinux?

[Rodrigo]

Unhappy with the direction Microsoft is taking with Windows 8, I'm dipping my toes into the Linux ocean. Because my living depends on the reliable use of computers and software to do my work, I'm testing this before taking the plunge.

As I've been a Windows user for close to two decades, I chose Zorin OS 5.2 to start with, since it offers the interface that looks the most like Windows (thereby limiting the culture shock). After some initial trials, I was dubious about the capabilities of LibreOffice, but was excited to discover PlayOnLinux which promises to install MS Office programs in virtual drives. This worked great for Word and Excel, although it seems to crash every time I try to open PowerPoint or OneNote.

However, these are programs that come with an installer. Sooner or later I will need or want to use some standalone Windows program that doesn't have an installer, so as a stand-in for this concept I tried to run Prime95.

That worked well, too, after installing it as a "non-listed program." But there is one important issue: Unlike the MS Office applications, which got listed automatically in PlayOnLinux and then I could place shortcuts on the desktop to launch directly, Prime95 doesn't appear anywhere in POL's launch window, nor does it seem to be possible to create a desktop shortcut for it from POL.

The Prime95 virtual drive seems to exist somewhere, as there are some places in POL where there's a reference to it, but I can't find it using Zorin's file manager or search function, so for all intents and purposes it's as if it did not exist. This seems to mean that I would have to create a new Prime95 virtual drive every time I close Prime95 or reboot Zorin OS. What a drag.

I've visited the PlayOnLinux website and forum (such as it is, it's pretty sparse) but have found nothing about this situation, so I'm hoping to find somebody here who does have experience with PlayOnLinux and can tell me what to do in order to establish a Prime95 desktop shortcut that works, and repeatedly so.

Remember, it's not Prime95 as such that I'm trying to use; I am aware that one can use Mprime to do GIMPS work in Linux. What I want is to learn how to create a desktop shortcut for a POL virtual drive that was set up from a program that lacks an installer.

Thanks in advance for any help you might provide.

Rodrigo

[Dubslow]

This is a long shot: In your file manager, select the option to show hidden files (probably a drop down menu option), and then go to your home folder and tell me if there's a folder called '.wine'.

Edit: Going through some documentation, it'll actually be called '.PlayOnLinux'. Take a look in there and see if you can find it.

[Rodrigo]

Originally Posted by Dubslow

This is a long shot: In your file manager, select the option to show hidden files (probably a drop down menu option), and then go to your home folder and tell me if there's a folder called '.wine'.

Edit: Going through some documentation, it'll actually be called '.PlayOnLinux'. Take a look in there and see if you can find it.

I was typing my answer, when your edit showed up.

Yes, within ".PlayOnLinux" is exactly where the ".wine" folder appears.

Rodrigo