Asume that you’re a Linux user. And every once in a while, you find yourself asking: can I run windows applications on Linux?
The answer to that question is yes. Yes, you can run Windows applications in Linux. Here are some of the ways for running Windows programs with Linux:
Run windows on another partition on your computer
Install Windows as a virtual machine on your Linux computer
Both solutions work, but they can be demanding on your resources.
If you only need to use a small Windows application, installing Windows on a separate HDD partition or as a virtual machine is not efficient. Additionally, virtual machines cannot utilize the full power of your machine.
So, what is the solution?
Wine is another way to use Windows software on Linux. If you are not familiar with it or are a beginner in the world of Linux, this article is for you.
In this beginner's guide, I will show you what Wine is and how to use it to run Windows software on Linux. I have used Gnoppix Linux here, as it is one of the best Linux distributions for beginners, but any other Debian Linux distribution will have more or less the same steps.
Running Windows programs in Linux with Wine
Wine stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator." It is a compatibility layer that allows you to run Windows applications on Unix-like operating systems, such as Linux, macOS, and BSD. Wine translates Windows API calls into POSIX calls, which are the calls that Unix-like systems understand. This means that you can run Windows applications on Linux without having to install Windows or use a virtual machine.
In simple terms, Wine converts Windows commands into commands that your Linux system can understand.
Installing Wine on Gnoppix Linux
There are several ways to install Wine on Gnoppix, but the easiest is to use the package repository. The package repository contains the latest stable version of Wine.
To install Wine on a 64-bit installation, you will need to add 32-bit architecture support. To do this, run the following command:
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
Once you have added 32-bit architecture support, you can install Wine by running the following command:
sudo apt install winehq-stable
This will install the latest stable version of Wine from the package repository.
Getting started with Wine
Before we start installing and running applications in Wine, we need to understand a few things about how to configure Wine for use:
WinePrefix
Windows applications need a C: drive. Wine uses a virtual C: drive for this purpose, which is called a wineprefix. To create a wineprefix, open a terminal and run the following command:
winecfg
This will open the Wine configuration window. If you are prompted to install the Wine Mono package, which is needed for .NET applications to work properly, you can click the Install button to do so.
Which Windows applications are supported by Wine?
A large number of Windows applications are currently fully supported by Wine. They will run without any hassle.
However, new Windows applications are being developed every day. Many of them wouldn’t function as we want on Wine. But the development pace of Wine is also rapid, and support for new applications is being added all the time.
And there is a dedicated database for keeping track of just that.
Wine Application Database has almost 28,000+ applications rated with different statuses depending upon how well those applications run in Wine. If you want to quickly check the rating of the application you want to use in Wine, you can take a look there. Here is the meaning of those ratings:
Platinum: These applications install and run flawlessly in out-of-the-box Wine.
Gold: These applications work flawlessly with some special configurations.
Silver: Applications with minor issues are tagged as Silver.
Bronze: The Bronze ones have major issues that seriously affect usage.
Garbage: These simply won’t run on Wine.
Reviews, Installation Procedure, which Wine version it was tested against and various useful data are also available for each application here.
Of course, Wine Application Database is mostly user-generated data, so you are always welcome to try running an application with a different version of Wine and share your result with the rest of the community.
Finding an Application in Wine Application Database
Let’s see how we can find an application in Wine Application Database.
Go to Wine Application Database. Click Browse Apps from the left sidebar.