| the konqueror issue | solution | problems | andLinux | step by step | history |
I’ve tried a few wasy to get Konqueror running on Windows: installing Linux through VMWare, using a pre-installed image from ThoughtPolice and installing KDE on Cygwin. The last one is still running its installer, while I’m typing this post using Konqueror after I installed andLinux.
Who needs Konqueror on Windows and why’s it so hard?
If you are a serious web developer and you want to occasionally test your web pages or in the event that you’ve created a javascript library and you need to be sure that it either degrades gracefully on unsupported browser or you want to test its full potential, you simply need it. Just as you need different versions of Firefox, virtual machines with Windows to truly test Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 (because you know that the hacked versions that run together internally call into the shared libraries even though they claim the contrary), at least the last two version of Opera, a Chrome and a Safari version, you also need Konqueror as being the sixth largest browser and very much in active development.
Serious developers know that Safari uses KHTML as its core, but that it was independently further developed, the original KHTML is still in Konqueror. The same developers also know that Chrome is mixture of the best of (so they say) Firefox’s Gecko and Konqueror’s KHTML. When you track a bug in your design and you believe it to be a rendering bug, it helps to compare the major engines and the derivatives or origins. Again: a need and a reason to have Konqueror installed.
The issue
The problem with Konqueror is, there’s no direct port for Windows. All other major browsers have ports, but Konqueror decisively only runs with KDE (or some other Linux / BSD desktops). Getting it to run on Windows traditionally required installing a virtual machine or dual boot systems, because simply recompiling is not an option because of the many dependencies. Then came andLinux, which is still in beta, but stable enough to run on your Windows Vista or Windows XP desktop.
The beauty of andLinux
Where virtualization software runs a full operating system inside your operating system and naturally adds a huge overload, and where Cygwin is a recompilation of all core Linux components to run against the Cygwin DLL, which also adds a ton of overhead, andLinux takes another approach and allows you to run Linux programs directly from Windows without modification, recompilation or starting a complete operating system or virtual machine. AndLinux simpl;y adds a ring-0 memory driver to your system which manages the memory management for Linux applications.
You just turn Windows into a multi-OS, capable of running both Windows and Linux programs, even the graphical ones that traditionally required a full Linux installation or Cygwin!
Quick solution: three simple steps
If you read the intro and haven’t already done the downloading and installation, here are the three steps that you must take to get Konqueror on Windows running. Forget Cygwin, coLinux, VMWare or dual boot systems, just:
- Download the KDE version of andLinux (more then 500MB);
- Install andLinux, there’s no need to restart, but I recommend doing so, see this about installing as a service;
- Click the Konqueror icon in the QuickLaunch bar.
konqueror on quicklaunch after installation of andLinux
That’s all there is to it. You’re now running Konqueror as you would’ve run if from a KDE desktop, no recompilation, just Konqueror in its native environment, but seemingly from Windows.
Step by step solution
In a not so distant future, I’ll include a step by step instruction here. I need to reinstall and create the necessary screenshots. The installation page about andLinux provides excellent step by step coverage as well. For now, I’ll only include some more detailed instructions about the following:
To service or not to service
In the second screen of andLinux installation you are asked whether or not you would like to run andLinux as a service. Personally, I don’t like too many services running, but that’s just me. If you run this as a service, you can choose between automatic and manual. I prefer manual, as I don’t need Linux application running every hour of the day so I prefer to turn it on and off when I need it. When you choose automatic, it will run automatic at startup.
My only issue with andLinux is that it hasn’t been around long enough and that it includes a ring-0 driver (which is why you need to be an administrator to install it in the first place). It’s easy enough as it is to crash a Windows installation and each new Windows version seems more vulnerable then the previous. When it comes to drivers, especially ring-0 drivers, I just tend to be a bit cautious. Don’t run it when you don’t need it, is my device, there’s enough bloat on any typical development machine anyway.
Running from command makes it a bit more hassle. Whether you choose Manual Service or run from command prompt, the shortcuts created for you in the start menu will include a “Start andLinux” and “Stop andLinux” which will do the necessary magic to get the whole thing going whenever you want it.
Regardless of your choice, the KDE launcher, which sits in your system tray, will be loaded on startup. You can change this manually later as well, but it is rather fast.
Problems
Could not load Konqueror
If you encounter the following message or similar (IP address will vary):
Could not launch 'Konqueror':
could not connect to
192.168.24.150:2081
then your firewall is blocking you. The Could not launch error followed by an address (local) and a port (varies) is a sign that your firewall does not like the TAP-Colinux interface. What usually helps is placing your firewall in “learning mode”, run one or two applications (like Konqueror or KWord) and then putting your firewall back in normal protection mode. Since there are so many different firewall around, I cannot help with specific instructions. If you are in doubt whether your firewall is causing this or not, switch it off fully, try to open Konqueror and see if it works now. Then switch it on again.
Conclusion
In one word: excellent! Chapeau to the team of andLinux. This is such a beatiful solution and it runs so smoothly on Windows Vista and Windows XP that I’m still silent about it. Haven’t seen such a painless Linux+Windows related install in years, if it isn’t the first. Can it be true, can Linux really be easy to use, even from a Windows environment? Thumbs up!
History
Because I have the habit of updating my posts regularly, I tend to keep a little history, in case you are a returning visitor and would like to know whether anything has changed.
| 2009-10-02 | added screenshots , navigation, shorter three-steps, added section about services and andLinux |
|---|---|
| 2009-10-01 | initial version |
– Abel –
