a simple answer might be to run XEN on Ubuntu, and simply run an XP VM for the quotes. Edit: i run all but my realtime quotes and TWS on Ubuntu/64 now.
Virtualization is a possibility, but it doesn't help much if my objective is to break my dependence on Microsoft. One of my concerns is that Microsoft will find a way to stop XP from working in the future, thereby forcing me to upgrade. I don't like being dependent upon a particular vendor. That's why I like the free/open source concept. If I am going to run both Windows and Linux, I could add a second computer. Hardware is cheap these days, and it avoids the performance hit with virtualization. TeleChart is already sluggish in native Windows without an emulator. If desk space is a problem, I can use a kvm (keyborad/video/mouse) switch. I don't see virtualization as very attractive. Wine is a better alternative, but it is still new (only made release 1.0 about six months ago) and hard to use. [rwk]
Don't make this so complicated. You have 2 choices, buy Vmware workstation or use the free Vmware server. Either way you now have a virtual machine (VM) that you can install XP or Vista to, and then install TC2000. Piece of cake on ubuntu. I have an XP VM that I run TC2000 on as well as others. Just make sure that your host linux box is packing at least 3 Gig Ram, i.e. 1 gig for host and 2 gig for vmware to allocate. The latest version of Vmware workstation is incredible. For the limited use of TC2000 plus additional trading software, I note NO difference between the XP VM and an actual install of XP on the box. No difference.
This probably isn't much of a help to you, but (all?) full feed vendors in the $1000+++ range support Linux. NxCore "officially unofficially(??)" runs perfectly under Wine. Activ and QuantHouse natively support Linux -- no need for Wine or virtualization at all. But the latter two get more expensive, perhaps $10k/month for a full-featured package. I agree with the posters above that VMWare is excellent. It's especially nice to have a script that automatically restarts a shaky XP system when it gets a BSOD -- "virtually" no downtime.
Sun's VirtualBox has had some good things said about it and is another free alternative to VMWare, Xen etc for virtualization.
Hey, I don't know off the top of my head but I can answer you question. My research in to Linux support reveals that all the "high end" trading platforms and data providers do support Linux. Those may cost 5 or six figures for platforms bought by brokerages or funds. And for data, they may tap directly into exchanges and else get FIX data which is supported by Linux. It seems that all the "retail" type data vendors and platforms support Windows instead. Wayne
I run ThinkorSwim on Sabayon 4, one with 4 big screens on a Core 2 Quad with 8gb memory, and the 2nd with 2 big screens off a dual Pentium III 750's and 2gb. I also run TDAmeritrade command center on those machines. The programs also ran under debian etch, but I like the Sabayon 4 better. I also tested Interactive Brokers a few months ago under ubuntu.