You can run MSIE 6 on Linux quite well by now. Not that there is any reason to do so. (Okay, maybe if you are a webdesign professional you'll want to make sure your layout works fine with MIES, too.)

So for me, this is more a demo on how far wine is.

[Update: the link below is dead, I suggest using ies4linux instead. Although I still recommend setting up a separate "windows" user, for security reasons.]

Here's how:

• Get a recent wine, e.g. 0.9.9 or 0.9.10
• Add a new user named "windows" to your system, because you don't want to risk running windows software like IE with your regular user account, will you? It could read your email!
• Add the freshly created windows user to the video and audio groups (adduser windows audio) if you want 3D or sound
• Use gksu -u windows xterm to open a shell as the windows user
• From Microsoft, download dcom98.exe and ie6setup.exe and save them to /tmp
• Type the following:

  cd
  wget http://www.kievinfo.com/2/ie6_overrides.reg
  wine regedit ie6_overrides.reg
  wine /tmp/dcom98.exe
  wine /tmp/ie6setup.exe
  exit
  

• You can now surprise your favourite linux-critics ("but linux won't run my $favourite_program, will it?") with a working Internet Exploder by running gksu -u windows wine C:\\Program\ Files\\Internet\ Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE - and it should not be able to read your email, much more secure than if you were running Windows.

Or, you could just be happy with not using Windows software. There is so much good FL/OSS software around, that I'm always seriously disappointed when I have to fight some windows software. I don't need it, do you?

Skype (that shady VoIP application which may eventually turn your computer into a "supernode" and use it for forwarding dozens of calls, that is packed with tons of anti-debugging techiques and tries to be very very shifty) seems to be incompatible with my Gnome.

With the gnome session-manager, to be precise. Because I can run skype, if I launch it using

SESSION_MANAGER= /usr/bin/skype

Anyway, if you want to use VoIP, please use a standard protocol such as SIP.

German DSL providers will currently give you DSL modems for free when you sign up with them that have SIP built-in, and where you can attach your regular phone (even ISDN) and do least-cost-routing. Some even give you a flatrate to landlines with their DSL service. And Freemail providers such as Web.de, Freenet.de and SIP specialists such as SipGate offer you a true phone number for use with SIP for free.

There is tons of SIP software available. Linux users might want to try kphone (for KDE), linphone (GTK) or ekiga (former GnomeMeeting, Gnome). All of which should be included in your favourite Linux distribution (okay, maybe except for ekiga which has licensing issues with the OPAL library)

Windows users might want to check out (I havn't tried it myself) Gizmo. I bet there is OSX software, too. Tons.