Wine Matures to Version 1.0, Finally

[Guest]

After 15 years in development and beta testing, Wine 1.0, an open source implementation of the Windows API, was released this week by WineHQ. Run your Windows apps right on top of your favorite Linux distro.

Wine Matures to Version 1.0, Finally : Read more

 

[jhansonxi]

It helps with legacy apps but still has a lot of problems. Like the article says it's not an emulator so it won't work with non-x86 processors like the older PowerPC-based Macintosh. There is a project named "Darwine" that combines Wine with QEMU to get it working on those (but with the obvious performance penalties).

With the alpha releases the developers didn't care much about new features breaking it but with a 1.0 release they should be more concerned with regressions now (only time will tell). Wine-Reviews has reviews and news about various Wine-related projects. There is also a mailing list.

Installing Windows apps can be difficult but projects like Wine-Doors and PlayOnLinux are developing front-ends that automate the installation of popular apps and games. Still there are many apps that don't work correctly or completely but many popular ones are supported. It is getting compatible enough that the developers are concerned that Windows viruses may become a problem.

It doesn't use any Microsoft code so there is no copyright or licensing threats. There may be patent issues but that's no different then any software in the current US patent system.

 

[MooseMuffin]

Wine is an incredibly ambitious project, and it blows my mind that it works as well as it does. It runs WoW as well as windows does, and I downloaded portal through steam and played that too. Congrats to the wine team on 1.0!

 

[skittle]

"There are some Windows applications that it runs quite well, some that it runs with acceptable issues, and some that it does not run well enough for the programs to be usable."

And some that do not work, or do not install.

 

[jhansonxi]

Some compatibility problems are caused by DRM. Wine is compatible with some DRM schemes but others will fail to detect an original disc and require a NoCD patch.

With winecfg you can change the Windows version that Wine is reporting to an app. This doesn't change Wine's behavior but some apps act differently with different Windows versions and may work better with something other than the default Windows XP.

 

[skittle]

notably adobe CS3 and office 2007 still have MAJOR issues.

 

[randomizer]

[citation][nom]skittle[/nom]notably adobe CS3 and office 2007 still have MAJOR issues.[/citation]
That's why you run Open Office

 

[martel80]

"If Microsoft comes across as restricting where its applications can run, ..."
Yeah, they can modify the license agreement on their products but they can't do much about software they didn't create. The only Microsoft application that I would like to use through Wine is Visual Studio.

 

[Darkk]

It's Microsoft's best interest to make Office products easy to work in Wine. It still sells more office licenses even though users prefer Linux than Windows. It'll be a question of application monopoly in the future when it is locked to a particular OS.

Firefox is a good example of it's success by making it available in Windows, Linux and MAC with the same functionally and familiar looks and feel. Although some people do use IE6 in Linux via Wine.

Darkk