Rung wine on Linux instead of Windows OS?

[qwertyjjj]

Has anyone used wine extensively to install Windows programs but run them under a Linux OS?
I'm just wondering how effective it is and whether there are any bugs in the display of the Windows programs or how they run?

 

[randomizer]

You will need to look up the program here: http://appdb.winehq.org/

Some run perfectly, some run even better than on Windows, many run horribly, many don't run at all. It's hit-and-miss. The older and more popular the program, the more likely it is to run better. Just remember that the Windows is the best at being Windows. If you run Windows in a virtual machine then you will get 100% compatibility for any application not needing 3D support, because while Wine is a compatibility layer, a virtual machine is a real copy of Windows. If you need proper 3D support, dual boot.

 

[PreferLinux]

Some recent programs (including 3D games) run well, from that.

 

[qwertyjjj]

You will need to look up the program here: http://appdb.winehq.org/

Some run perfectly, some run even better than on Windows, many run horribly, many don't run at all. It's hit-and-miss. The older and more popular the program, the more likely it is to run better. Just remember that the Windows is the best at being Windows. If you run Windows in a virtual machine then you will get 100% compatibility for any application not needing 3D support, because while Wine is a compatibility layer, a virtual machine is a real copy of Windows. If you need proper 3D support, dual boot.

What needs 3D support, just games and video editing mainly?
Just wondering as Linux might be a cleaner install.
Mozilla programs shouldn't have any problems I guess but a few Windows only apps like financial software and related things for charting, I'd have to run on wine if I was going to do that.

If wine is a virtual system, what exactly would prevent a Windows app from working correctly?

 

[randomizer]

What needs 3D support, just games and video editing mainly?

Mainly I doubt you'd need it for much else.

Mozilla programs shouldn't have any problems I guess

Certainly not, because all Mozilla software has Linux versions, which means you don't need to worry about any compatibility layers.

If wine is a virtual system, what exactly would prevent a Windows app from working correctly?

Wine is a compatibility layer. It is a re-implementation of many core Windows libraries and other system files/executables. It is done through reverse engineering Windows in a way that does not simply produce a rewrite of the original code (copyright laws wouldn't like that) but produces code that performs the same function/end result. It's basically trial-and-error reverse engineering. Wine is not Windows, and it is not a virtual operating system. If you want something to behave exactly like Windows, you need to use Windows, whether that be through a dual-boot or a virtual machine running on a Linux host.

In many cases you can mess around with Wine to improve performance and/or compatibility, especially if you have Windows on hand to borrow DLLs from, but as I said it is hit-and-miss and you won't know if it works until you try it. Compatibility varies between versions too, so what may work with Wine 1.3.x may not work with 1.3.y or may work even better.

 

[CsG_kieran_2]

Mozilla programs shouldn't have any problems I guess.

If wine is a virtual system, what exactly would prevent a Windows app from working correctly?

Firefox/thunderbird etc. Are bundled or downloadable from the app store

that is complex to explain, you have people creating the windows C: drive (virtual) with open source code trying to back word engineer programs written in closed source code so DirectX games can ether be great or break.

BUT, games written in OperGL run perfectly, take World of warcraft as an example hope this helped.

 

[Pyroflea]

With this issue, you need to look at which programs you need. In my case, I still need to [unfortunately] run Windows on one of my rigs, because some of the CAD programs I use simply won't install under Wine.

Check out the appDB at the Wine website (linked earlier), and see if the programs you're wanting to use are supported. If they are, you're good to go. If not, start looking for open-source alternatives. There are plenty of free programs out there (like in my case, Blender, which I"m simply just too lazy to learn to use) that will work just as well or better than their Windows counterparts.

If you can't get the program to run through Wine, and can't find an alternative, then you're pretty much forced to either dual-boot or run a VM.

Good luck.

 

[qwertyjjj]

With this issue, you need to look at which programs you need. In my case, I still need to [unfortunately] run Windows on one of my rigs, because some of the CAD programs I use simply won't install under Wine.

Check out the appDB at the Wine website (linked earlier), and see if the programs you're wanting to use are supported. If they are, you're good to go. If not, start looking for open-source alternatives. There are plenty of free programs out there (like in my case, Blender, which I"m simply just too lazy to learn to use) that will work just as well or better than their Windows counterparts.

If you can't get the program to run through Wine, and can't find an alternative, then you're pretty much forced to either dual-boot or run a VM.

Good luck.

Isn;t wine that VM? I guess it's a slightly different implementation.

 

[qwertyjjj]

Also, I don;t know if this is an impression...but don;t some programs run slower under wine? It could just be because I was running a program through a remote connection on X once but it seemed to be reacting sluggishly.

 

[PreferLinux]

Wine is not a VM. A VM runs a normal copy of Windows (and requires a valid licence). Wine doesn't need Windows at all. Some programs may run slower in Wine, others may be faster.

 

[qwertyjjj]

On a slight tangent, where does everyone think this is going to end up?
It's a bit of a pain having to run 2 OSs. The large majority of the market uses Windows simply because it's what they are given and what they know.
I for one would use Linux except for the fact that a lot of companies simply will not make Linux software versions of their programs. Forward looking companies do this easily and have Windows, MAC, Linux, etc, versions of their software, which is great but they're in the minority.

 

[randomizer]

Wine is simply an alternative implementation of Windows libraries. There is really nothing incredibly fancy about it. Virtual machines go an extra step. The hypervisor component of virtual machine management software exposes some or all of the host machine's hardware to the guest operating system, often as a different piece of hardware. The guest operating system runs in a sandbox and is unaware (for the most part, there are exceptions) that it is running in a virtual machine. If you expose only 2 out of 4 CPU cores to the VM, it will only recognise two and be unaware of the rest.

The advantage of using Windows in a VM is that because it is essentially a secondary computer, it run a 100% complete and native copy of Windows, and does not use any compatibility libraries to simulate the same functionality like Wine does. However, unlike Wine you are required to own a Windows licence to use it. Additionally, because most hypervisors aren't fully capable of exposing DX9, 10 or 11 hardware to the guest OS, you don't get proper 3D support.

 

[PreferLinux]

On a slight tangent, where does everyone think this is going to end up?
It's a bit of a pain having to run 2 OSs. The large majority of the market uses Windows simply because it's what they are given and what they know.
I for one would use Linux except for the fact that a lot of companies simply will not make Linux software versions of their programs. Forward looking companies do this easily and have Windows, MAC, Linux, etc, versions of their software, which is great but they're in the minority.

I think the Linux market share will increase, especially if Windows 8 is not well liked. I think that as Linux gets more popular, more programs will be written for it, letting it get even more so. At least, I hope something like that happens. But Android is very popular, and it is a version of Linux, so that may help Linux adoption.

 

[CsG_kieran_2]

^+1. Linux somehow has more backing from hardware company's than microsofts windows. who wouldn't want to save $100 per item? simple. Company's replace windows with a linux distro, but keep the same charges yeah.. we still lose out but they gain millions. the moment windows slips it dies

 

[qwertyjjj]

^+1. Linux somehow has more backing from hardware company's than microsofts windows. who wouldn't want to save $100 per item? simple. Company's replace windows with a linux distro, but keep the same charges yeah.. we still lose out but they gain millions. the moment windows slips it dies

I guess TBF, Microsoft has done a lot for the computing world, it's good to have the competition but it;s not true choice unless software is written for all OS's at least to start with.

 

[CsG_kieran_2]

I guess TBF, Microsoft has done a lot for the computing world, it's good to have the competition but it;s not true choice unless software is written for all OS's at least to start with.

oh yeah, they wont go without a fight that's for sure. Alot of things will have to pick up (for example: OpenGL) But its not difficult for software to be ported over

 

[wombat_tg]

I guess TBF, Microsoft has done a lot for the computing world, it's good to have the competition but it;s not true choice unless software is written for all OS's at least to start with.

Software companies will usually choose to make what is profitable. It's really just not cost-effective for a lot of developers to make Linux or even Mac versions of whatever they're making.

Sort of a nasty cycle.

People say "all the software is for Y, so I have to use Y"

Software developers see "90% of our potential customers use Y. It only makes sense to make a Y version"