Wine: Bottling Windows

When you get down to the heart of it, no matter what operating system happens to power your computer, there are some universals. Most users have a lot of the same basic wants and needs. As much as I am sure that will be seen as a controversial statement by many users who are too tied to their operating system loyalties to see clearly, it remains the truth.

The primary goal for most of, if not all of the computer users on the planet, is functionality. We want our systems to be able to do as much as possible, either to make our lives easier or to make our friends and coworkers green with envy. No matter what your motive is for wanting more functionality, there are a bevy of ways to get it, but only a few will offer you a way to add a whole host of software features quickly. The easiest way to do that is to be able to run a wider variety of software on your computer system. 

As it stands in the world of software right now, the bulk has been written for the various versions of the Windows operating system. While this can be an annoyance to no end to the many users who have a deep end abiding love for their Apple or Linux-based computers, it is not a Windows-based conspiracy; at least, not anymore. It is simply a matter of the economics of the situation.

For now, at least, most of the computers in the world are still running on Windows. This means that if a software developer wants to be able to reach the largest share of the market, and have the greatest chance to make a profit on all of the time and effort that they are putting into the development of the product, then they will develop for Windows. Sadly, the laws of free market economics can be a cruel, cruel mistress, and even with the rise in popularity or both Macs and Linux, it will be a while before the situation levels off. One of the best ways to deal with this imbalance in the world of development is to find a way to run Windows-based software on the other systems.  

Many people choose to do this with a Windows system emulator, but an emulator is not always your best option. They can be quite large and bulky, so many users will find them to be a less-than-attractive alternative. So if you are not in a good position to use an emulator, or if you just don’t want to invest in the costs of an emulator, then Wine is the best option for you to consider for your software needs.

At first glance Wine may seem like it is an emulator itself, but it is not. In fact, when Wine was first created it was written WINE, and it was an acronym for "WINE Is Not An Emulator." This of course begs the question; if Wine is not an emulator, then what exactly is it? 

Wine is a piece of software that is designed to allow computer operating systems that are based on the X86 (or X86-64) architecture to allow non-Windows systems to run Windows-based programs. It will not make your computer think that it is running Windows, but it will allow the programs to run. While this is an important distinction for developers of all kinds, most average end users will find that it functions similarly to the way an emulator would, but  without incurring any costs in order to use it. 

Wine and Program Compatibility

The Wine program has varying levels of compatibility with Windows-based programs. This is expressed with ratings that are based on heavy metals. If you are looking at an app with a platinum or gold rating, consider yourself in the clear. After that, read up on the specific flaws with a particular piece of software before you try to use it. To make your life just a little bit easier, here is a list of the platinum and gold programs for the most current version of Wine. 

The Platinum Programs- These are the programs that will run without any flaws. 

• AirStrike II
  
• Bombzone
  
• Caesar III
  
• Daedalus
  
• DU Meter
  
• ElsterFormular
  
• EndNote
  
• Final Reality
  
• Gestwin
  
• Guild Wars
  
• Java-Editor
  
• Master Rallye
  
• Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000
  
• Nascar SimRacing
  
• Pi Story
  
• Prison Tycoon 3
  
• Ragnarok Online
  
• Secret Files: Tunguska
  
• Silkroad Online3
  
• Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix
  
• TabIt
  
• True Crime: Streets of LA
  
• Watchtower Library 

Wine Program Compatibility, continued

The Gold Programs- These will run with only minor flaws in the program or a loss of features. 

• AVR Studio
  
• Bookworm Adventures Deluxe
  
• CATVids
  
• Company of Heroes
  
• Diablo
  
• Dystopia
  
• EVE Online
  
• F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon
  
• Gothic II
  
• Halo: Combat Evolved
  
• IL-2 Sturmovik
  
• Knytt Stories
  
• LEGO Digital Designer
  
• Lingvo
  
• Micro Flight
  
• Myst III: Exile
  
• Quicken
  
• SAM2 Broadcaster
  
• Sega Touring Car Championship
  
• Sibelius
  
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 HD
  
• Space Siege
  
• SpaceForce: Rogue Universe
  
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
  
• Warcraft III 

Of course, now that you know the target program (or programs) that you want to run, you are going to have to find the right version of Wine for your version of Linux. There are distributions for many different types of Linux available. Each one comes with an installer already and there is a software manager who acts as a kind of guardian angel for that specific version of Wine. Below you will find a chart with the versions and their guardians. The information in this chart is, of course, courtesy of the Wine site, the downloads can be found here. 

Running A Windows- Based Program on Wine: The How To

Now that you have an idea of what programs you can run on your version of Wine and where to get the version that you will need for your system, let's take a look at how you can do what we came here to do, and actually run one of those programs. For the most part, it is very easy to use a program in Wine. Simply open Wine and install the program. Once you do this, you should see your program in the list of programs. If not, you are just going to have to go and find it the manual way.* Here are the instructions for how to do this:

"If all else fails, open a terminal window, and navigate down to the application's directory. For example: 

First, navigate to your home directory in the command line:

cd

".wine/drive_c" in your home directory is equivalent to "C:" for your Windows programs, so to look in "C:Program Files", you enter ".wine/drive_c/Program Files":

cd ".wine/drive_c/Program Files"

ls Adobe Microsoft FluffyBunny

cd FluffyBunny

Then look for the application's main .exe file (you may have to guess), and run it using the "wine" command. For example:

ls *.exe

fluff.exe uninstall.exe ereg.exe

wine fluff.exe”

Now that you know how to run Wine, and perhaps even if you want to use Wine, we are just going to have to clear up a few loose ends. Everything for Linux is at least in some ways enhanced and defined by its support and user communities. So here are some of the support and information communities that can be found: 

* The FAQ: http://wiki.winehq.org/FAQ

* The Wiki: http://wiki.winehq.org/FrontPage

* The Official Documentation: http://winehq.org/documentation

* The Wine Application Database: http://appdb.winehq.org/ 

With these resources you will be able to get support in a wide variety of places. In many of these places, you will find not only the answers to your questions, but a community of like-minded individuals. 

* Please not that the instructions for how to start a program the manual way come directly from the Wine site. This information is property of the nice folks over at Wine and is being sampled for educational purposes, since the instructions will need to be followed exactly. It is strongly recommended that you read all of the FAQs before you begin to install and use Wine on your system.