Joshua822 said:
Wine ( which is a Windows-emulation layer for GNU\Linux distributions like Ubuntu ( and other operating systems ) ).
"Wine Is Not an Emulator". That's the recursive acronym. Emulation often refers to translation of processor instructions sets. But in this other case of the term "emulation", it also doesn't specifically "mimic" Windows itself, because it implements the Windows API. So it's just classified as an compatibility layer.
Joshua822 said:
So if you want to play Rayman 2 on a modern computer you can install Ubuntu next to Windows ( don't worry, Ubuntu doesn't need a lot of space on your hard drive, a 10 GB partition will do ) on your computer
Have you heard of
Wubi? It allows you to install Ubuntu inside of Windows, by having an image file with an Linux filesystem stored on an Windows filesystem, with an entry added to the Windows BCD, so it can be booted from NT Loader and Windows Boot Manager. In this way, it also allows Ubuntu to be easily removed by using the Windows uninstaller.
Joshua822 said:
(You can also try installing Ubuntu for this goal inside Virtualbox or another PC-emulation software, but I don't have experience with that)
Well, virtual machines still isn't the greatest for gaming yet, but with that low system requirements Rayman 2 has, it should run just fine. But it still depends on the actual hardware specs. VMware is able to run DWM, which powers Windows Aero. VirtualBox is able to run XGL/AIGLX, which powers Compiz. And all of these Compositing Window Managers is able to run smoothly.
An alternative way of trying Ubuntu, is by using
Portable Ubuntu, which is based on coLinux (Cooperative Linux) that is the Linux kernel loaded from an Windows driver, which makes it able to run side-by-side with the Windows kernels, with full hardware access, and with speeds that tightly matching the native system. Unfortunately coLinux is 32-bit only.
But the currently best way of trying Ubuntu, is by using a
LiveUSB, and the best way of installing it for ordinary users, is by using Wubi.