Seriously Mike said:
1. Can I run WinE or other Windows emulator to run Windows98/XP games?
There was a proof of concept that went very, very slow. Eventually maybe it'll get sorted, but probably not to the extent that you desire. Older games that only required 200Mhz processors MAYBE, though likely not even that high. Different architectures, and emulating a CISC like x86 isn't nearly as easy as emulating a RISC style CPU.
Seriously Mike said:
2. Is there an emulator for Gamecube, PS2 or PSP available for Pandora?
Despite what others have said, PSP is looking like it could be very viable in the distant future. I seem to recall JayFoxRox posting some very promising results with his (very very alpha) emulator. Only time will tell, of course. Imagine it's like this: you've got a bucket full of lego blocks and you need to somehow stack them, all of them, into a box. With the PSP, looking at the number of lego blocks, there seems to be a good chance that, if they're assembled properly, all the blocks will eventually fit in that box, just barely. Even the funny shaped ones that don't seem to go anywhere. But that's just from looking at the blocks and guessing, actually assembling them we might find that a few blocks are left over that didn't fit. There are just way more blocks for the Gamecube and PS2 to fit them into that same box, though. In both cases, any leftover blocks will need to be discarded or carried separately, which results in slow down. Analogy starts breaking up here, but think of it like that: so much stuff in the PS2 and Gamecube that there's just no way to get it all in there. Sega Saturn is in a similar boat, even though it's older it was a lot more complex, so its lego pieces are in all kinds of weird shapes that aren't friendly.
Dreamcast, like the PSP, is showing a great deal of promise, though the Dreamcast has a few more odd shaped blocks than the PSP which may have to be abandoned.
Seriously Mike said:
3. How complicated porting Q3 engine games is?
There's already one version of Q3 ported. I played it. It was nice, smooth. I died many times. Because I suck at Quake.
Someone is working on porting a more advanced version. I expect it to also be nice, smooth, and die many times. Because I still suck at Quake.
Seriously Mike said:
4. Did anyone attempt to port Unreal Engine 2 (UT2003, Splinter Cell, XIII) to Linux? Would it run on Pandora?
As was mentioned, closed source can't be ported. Even if it runs on Linux, that's x86 Linux and probably wouldn't work on Pandora. If we could get ahold of the x86 Linux source code, there's a greater chance of it being ported than if it were Windows only, but it would still require a lot of work.
Seriously Mike said:
5. ...can OpenOffice be installed on Pandora? (yes, I'm serious)
Yes, this was a major selling point for many!
I wouldn't "install" it on the Pandora, though. It's quite huge and the Pandora has a limited storage capacity. Someone will come along sooner or later and create a package which can just be dropped onto an SD card which you can use. In the meantime, Abiword works great and is installed by default (as was mentioned as well)
Seriously Mike said:
Word of warning: I'm a complete newb when it comes to Linux.
That shouldn't matter at all. Forget that it runs Linux, tell yourself it's just a custom operating system, akin to the PS3, XBox, or Wii systems and you'll be fine. So many people get caught up in the idea that Linux is "hard", when in fact a lot of things around them already run Linux. My favourite example is Tivo. Tivo is Linux, and no one seriously complains about it because of that because 99% of the population don't know. The Pandora should be the same way. You'll notice it has a file manager, the command line is available if you want or need it (a little more need during the early days, since there are still some bugs to be worked out), but for the most part it's just "menu->program->work/play"
