Wine is a
freeFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with minimal restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also...
software application that aims to allow
Unix-likeA Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
computer
operating systemAn operating system is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating...
s to execute programs written for
Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces...
. Wine also provides a software library known as
Winelib against which developers can
compileA compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a computer language into another computer language...
Windows applications to help
portIn computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
them to Unix-like systems.
Wine is predominantly written by means of enhanced “
clean-roomClean room design is the method of copying a design by reverse engineering and then recreating it without infringing any of the copyrights and trade secrets associated with the original design. Clean room design is useful as a defense against copyright and trade secret infringement because it...
” techniques, with some developers advising against the use of certain information obtained via documentation or tools present in proprietary
SDKsA software development kit is typically a set of development tools that allows a software engineer to create applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
(for example, the Platform SDK or Windows Driver Kit). In most circumstances Wine developers use black-box testing to uncover specific behaviour, and code added to Wine is generally required to be accompanied by test cases.
The project lead is
Alexandre JulliardAlexandre Julliard is a computer programmer who is best known as the project leader for Wine, a compatibility layer to run Microsoft Windows programs on Unix-like operating systems....
.
Name
The name 'Wine' derives from the
recursive acronymA recursive acronym is an abbreviation that refers to itself in the expression for which it stands...
Wine
Is
Not an
Emulator. While the name sometimes appears in the forms "WINE" and "wine", the project developers have agreed to standardize on the form "Wine".
History
Bob Amstadt (the initial project leader) and Eric Youngdale started the Wine project in 1993 as a way to run
WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces...
applications on
LinuxLinux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed,...
. Inspired by two
Sun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems, Inc. is a multinational vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information technology services, founded on February 24, 1982...
' products, the Wabi for the Solaris operating system and the Public Windows Initiative (an attempt to get
Windows APIThe Windows API, informally WinAPI, is Microsoft's core set of application programming interfaces available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. It was formerly called the Win32 API; however, the name Windows API more accurately reflects its roots in 16-bit Windows and its support on 64-bit...
fully reimplemented on the public domain as an ISO standard, rejected by the entity due to pressure from
MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices...
in 1996), it originally targeted Windows 3.x (
16-bitA 16 bit application is any software written for MS-DOS, OS/2 1.x or early versions of Microsoft Windows which originally ran on the 16-bit Intel 8088 and Intel 80286 microprocessors. Such applications used a 20-bit or 24-bit segment or selector-offset address representation to extend the range of...
)
application softwareApplication software is a computer program that functions and is operated by means of a computer, with the purpose of supporting or improving the software user's work. In other words, it is the subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly and thoroughly to a...
, although it focuses primarily on the dominant 32-bit applications. The project originated in discussions on
UsenetUsenet, a portmanteau of "user" and "network" , is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It evolved from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name....
in [news:comp.os.linux comp.os.linux] in June 1993.
Alexandre JulliardAlexandre Julliard is a computer programmer who is best known as the project leader for Wine, a compatibility layer to run Microsoft Windows programs on Unix-like operating systems....
has led the project since 1994.
Rather than acting as a full
emulatorAn emulator in computer sciences duplicates the functions of one system using a different system, so that the second system behaves like the first system...
, Wine implements a
compatibility layerA compatibility layer is a term that refers to components that allow for non-native support of components.In software engineering, a compatibility layer allows binaries for a legacy or foreign system to run on a host system. This translates system calls for the foreign system into native system...
, providing alternative implementations of the
DLLDynamic-link library , or DLL, is Microsoft's implementation of the shared library concept in the Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems...
s that Windows programs call, and processes to substitute for the
Windows NTWindows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was originally designed to be a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was...
kernel.
Wine is primarily developed for Linux, but the
Mac OS XMac OS X is a line of computer operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc., and since 2002 has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
,
FreeBSDFreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via the Berkeley Software Distribution . It has been characterized as "the unknown giant among free operating systems". It is not a clone of UNIX, but works like UNIX, with UNIX-compliant internals and system APIs. FreeBSD is...
and
SolarisSolaris is a UNIX-based operating system introduced by Sun Microsystems in 1992 as the successor to SunOS.Solaris is known for its scalability, especially on SPARC systems, and for originating many innovative features such as DTrace and ZFS...
ports are currently well-maintained. 1999 versions of Wine are available for OpenBSD and NetBSD through the ports collection of OpenBSD and NetBSD pkgsrc respectively. Although outdated, Wine DLLs are also available for Microsoft Windows (the full application does not yet compile or run for Windows).
The project has proved time-consuming and difficult for the developers, mostly because of incomplete and incorrect
documentationDocumentation may refer to the process of providing evidence or to the communicable material used to provide such documentation...
of the Windows API. While
MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices...
extensively documents most Win32
functionsIn computer science, a subroutine or subprogram is a portion of code within a larger program, which performs a specific task and is relatively independent of the remaining code....
, some areas such as
file formatA file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for...
s and
protocolIn computing, a protocol is a set of rules which is used by computers to communicate with each other across a network. A protocol is a convention or standard that controls or enables the connection, communication, and data transfer between computing endpoints...
s have no official Microsoft specification. There are also undocumented low-level functions and obscure bugs that Wine must duplicate precisely in order to allow some applications to work properly. Consequently, the Wine team has
reverse engineeredReverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object or system through analysis of its structure, function and operation...
many function calls and file formats in such areas as
thunkThe word thunk has at least three related meanings in computer science. A "thunk" may be:* a piece of code to perform a delayed computation * a feature of some virtual function table implementations...
ing. More recently some developers have suggested enhanced tactics such as examining the sources of extant open-source and free software.
The Wine project originally released Wine under the same
MIT LicenseThe MIT License is a free software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , used by the MIT X Consortium.It is a permissive license, meaning that it permits reuse within proprietary software on the condition that the license is distributed with that software...
as the X Window System, but owing to concern about
proprietaryProprietary software is any computer software with restrictions on use or private modification, or with restrictions judged to be excessive on copying or publishing of modified or unmodified versions. The term proprietary software is thus the opposite of free software, generally speaking...
versions of Wine not contributing their changes back to the core project, work as of March 2002 has used the LGPL for its licensing.
The first release candidate for version 1.0 was released on May 9, 2008. Following four additional release candidates, version 1.0 of Wine was released on June 17, 2008, after 15 years of development.
Architecture
Wine implements the Windows API entirely in user-space, rather than as a kernel module at the time of writing. Services normally provided by the kernel in Windows are provided by a daemon known as wineserver. Wineserver implements basic Windows functionality, as well as providing extra functions such as integration with the
X Window SystemThe X Window System is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a graphical user interface for networked computers, and was initially developed as part of Project Athena...
and translation of
signalsA signal is a limited form of inter-process communication used in Unix, Unix-like, and other POSIX-compliant operating systems. Essentially it is an asynchronous notification sent to a process in order to notify it of an event that occurred. When a signal is sent to a process, the operating system...
into native Windows exceptions.
Although Wine implements some aspects of the Windows kernel, it is not possible to use native Windows drivers with it, due to Wine's underlying architecture. This prevents certain applications from working, such as some copy-protected titles.
Corporate sponsorship
The main corporate sponsor of Wine is
CodeWeaversCodeWeavers is a company that sells a proprietary version of Wine called CrossOver, for running Windows applications on Mac OS X and Linux. The company was founded in 1996 as a consultancy, eventually moving entirely over to Wine development and support...
, which employs Julliard and many other Wine developers to work on Wine and on
CrossOver-Fiction:*Crossover , a storyline shared between two fictional universes, or involving characters from multiple universes**See intercompany crossover for comic-book crossovers in which a character published by one company meets a character published by another**See gaming crossovers for crossovers...
, CodeWeavers' supported version of Wine, which includes some application-specific tweaks not considered suitable for the WineHQ version, as well as some additional proprietary components.
The involvement of
CorelCorel Corporation is a Canadian computer software company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is known for producing famous software titles such as CorelDRAW and WordPerfect.- History :...
for a time assisted the project, chiefly by employing Julliard and others to work on it. Corel had an interest in porting
WordPerfect OfficeWordPerfect Office is an office suite developed by Corel Corporation. As of April 2008, the latest version is WordPerfect Office X4 , which is available in various editions, including Standard, Professional, Home & Student and Family Pack Edition...
, its
office suiteIn computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office software suite or productivity suite is a collection of programs intended to be used by typical clerical workers and knowledge workers...
, to Linux (especially
Corel LinuxCorel Linux, also called Corel LinuxOS, was a Debian-based operating system made by Corel that was released in late 1999. Corel later discontinued the distribution, but did not remove the former Corel Open Source Development website until March 2002....
), but Corel cancelled all Linux-related projects, and the company's Wine effort stopped, after Microsoft made major investments in Corel.
Other corporate sponsors include
GoogleGoogle Inc. is an American public corporation, earning revenue from advertising related to its Internet search, e-mail, online mapping, office productivity, social networking, and video sharing services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the same technologies. Google has also...
, which hired Codeweavers to fix Wine so
PicasaPicasa is a software application for organizing and editing digital photos, originally created by Idealab and owned by Google since 2004. "Picasa" is a blend of the name of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, the phrase mi casa for "my house" and "pic" for pictures...
ran well enough to be ported directly to Linux using the same binary as on Windows; Google later paid for improvements to Wine's support for Photoshop CS2. Wine is also a regular beneficiary of Google's Summer of Code program.
Functionality
, Wine runs some software packages with good stability and many others with minor issues. The developers of the
Direct3DDirect3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX API. Direct3D is only available for Microsoft's various Windows operating systems and in the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems. Direct3D is used to render three dimensional graphics in...
portions of Wine have continued to implement new features such as pixel shaders to increase game support. Wine can also use native DLLs directly, thus increasing functionality, but then a license for Windows is needed unless the DLLs were distributed with the application itself.
winecfg is a GUI configuration utility included with Wine. Winecfg makes configuring Wine easier by making it unnecessary to edit the registry directly, although, if needed, this can be done with
regedit. Wine also includes versions of several other Windows programs, such as
notepad,
wordpadWordPad is a basic word processor that is included with almost all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 upwards. It is more advanced than Notepad but simpler than Microsoft Works Word Processor and Microsoft Word. It replaced Windows Write.-Features:...
,
controlThe Control Panel is a part of the Microsoft Windows graphical user interface which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls via applets, such as adding hardware, adding and removing software, controlling user accounts, and changing accessibility options...
,
iexploreWindows Internet Explorer , is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems starting in 1995...
and
explorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems. It is also the component of the operating system that presents the user interface...
.
AppDB is a community-maintained database of which Windows applications work, and how well they work, with Wine.
64-bit applications
Preliminary support for 64-bit
WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces...
applications was added on December 5, 2008. This currently requires
gccThe GNU Compiler Collection is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting various programming languages. GCC is a key component of the GNU toolchain...
version 4.4 and the Wine developers expect that it will take significant time before support stabilizes. However, as almost all Windows applications are currently available in 32-bit versions and as support for 32-bit Windows applications is handled by linking with 32-bit versions of Wine's shared library dependencies on 64-bit platforms, this is seen as a non-issue.
Usage
In a 2007 survey by desktoplinux.com of 38,500 Linux desktop users, 31.5% of respondents reported using Wine to run Windows applications. This plurality was larger than all
x86 virtualizationx86 Virtualization is a method involving x86 processor-based hardware and operating systems where a "guest" or "virtual" OS runs as a process on a "host" or "physical" system. Little or no modification to the guest OS is required...
programs combined, as well as larger than the 27.9% who reported not running Windows applications.
Third-party applications
Some applications require more tweaking than simply installing the application in order to work properly, such as manually configuring Wine to use certain Windows DLLs. The Wine project does not integrate such
workaroundA workaround is a bypass of a recognized problem in a system. A workaround is typically a temporary fix that implies that a genuine solution to the problem is needed...
s into the Wine codebase, instead preferring to focus solely on improving Wine's implementation of the Windows API. While this approach focuses Wine development on long-term compatibility, it makes it difficult for users to run applications that require workarounds. Consequently, many third party applications have been created to ease the use of those applications that don't work
out of the boxItems, functionalities, or features provided out of the box are those that do not require any additional installations, plug-ins, expansion packs, or products. In addition to being used for tangible products, the phrase is often used in a less literal sense for software, which may not be...
within Wine itself. The Wine wiki maintains a page of current and obsolete third party applications.
- Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a third-party tool for Wine that installs and configures Windows applications. Version 1.6 comes with added support for Google's Chrome Web Browser, Google Earth, Google Picasa, Trillian and Apple's Safari Web Browser. Additionally, Cellar support has improved; you can now delete and...
is a Wine GUI configuration manager that runs winelib applications. It also supports installation of third party utilities, installation of applications and games, and the ability to use custom configurations. BordeauxBordeaux is a third-party tool for Wine that installs and configures Windows applications. Version 1.6 comes with added support for Google's Chrome Web Browser, Google Earth, Google Picasa, Trillian and Apple's Safari Web Browser. Additionally, Cellar support has improved; you can now delete and...
currently runs on Linux, Free-BSD, PC-BSD, Solaris, OpenSolaris, and Mac OS X computers.
- Winetricks is a small script to install some basic components (typically Microsoft DLLs and fonts) required for some applications to run correctly under Wine. The Wine project will accept bug reports for users of Winetricks, unlike most third-party applications. It is maintained by Wine developer Dan Kegel.
- Wine-Doors
Wine-Doors is a free and open source application-management tool for the GNOME desktop which adds functionality to Wine. Wine-Doors is an alternative to WineTools which aims to improve upon WineTools' features and extend on the original idea with a more modern design approach.-Relation with...
is an application-management tool for the GNOMEGNOME is a desktop environment—a graphical user interface which runs on top of a computer operating system —composed entirely of free and open source software...
desktop which adds functionality to Wine. Wine-Doors is an alternative to WineTools which aims to improve upon WineTools' features and extend on the original idea with a more modern design approach.
- IEs4Linux is a utility to install all versions of Internet Explorer, including versions 4 to 6 and version 7 (in beta).
- PlayOnLinux is an application to ease the installation of Windows games using Wine. It uses an online database of scripts to apply to different games that need special configurations and if the game is not in the database, a manual installation can be performed. Aside from games, any other programs can also be installed and each one is put in a different container (WINEPREFIX) to prevent interference of one program in another and provide isolation, the same way that CrossOver
-Fiction:*Crossover , a storyline shared between two fictional universes, or involving characters from multiple universes**See intercompany crossover for comic-book crossovers in which a character published by one company meets a character published by another**See gaming crossovers for crossovers...
's bottles work.
Other versions of Wine
The core Wine development aims at a correct implementation of the Windows API as a whole and has sometimes lagged in some areas of compatibility with certain applications. Direct3D, for example, remained unimplemented until 1998, although newer releases have had an increasingly complete implementation.
CodeWeavers markets
CrossOver-Fiction:*Crossover , a storyline shared between two fictional universes, or involving characters from multiple universes**See intercompany crossover for comic-book crossovers in which a character published by one company meets a character published by another**See gaming crossovers for crossovers...
specifically for running
Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft Office is an office suite of interrelated desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. Microsoft Office was introduced by Microsoft in 1989 for Mac OS, with a version for Windows in 1990...
and other major Windows applications including some games. CodeWeavers employs Alexandre Julliard to work on Wine and contributes most of its code to the Wine project under the LGPL. CodeWeavers also released a new version called Crossover Mac for Intel-based Apple Macintosh computers on January 10, 2007.
CodeWeavers has also recently released CrossOver Games, which is optimised for running Windows computer games. Unlike CrossOver, it doesn't focus on providing the most stable version of Wine. Instead, experimental features are provided to support newer games.
TransGaming TechnologiesTransGaming Inc. is a company specialized in video game portability technology. The company has its head office in Toronto and a research hub in Ottawa. It was founded by Gavriel State, who ran the Linux product division at the Corel Corporation...
produces the proprietary
CedegaCedega is TransGaming Technologies' proprietary fork of Wine , designed specifically for running games created for Microsoft Windows under Linux...
software. Formerly known as WineX, Cedega represents a fork from the last MIT-licensed version of Wine in 2002. Much like Crossover Games, TransGaming's Cedega is targeted towards running Windows computer games and is sold using a
subscription business modelThe subscription business model is a business model where a customer must pay a subscription price to have access to the product/service. The model was pioneered by magazines and newspapers, but is now used by many businesses and websites...
.
TransGaming has also produced Cider, a library for
Apple-Intel architectureThe Apple-Intel architecture is an unofficial name used for Apple Macintosh personal computers developed and manufactured by Apple Inc. that use Intel x86 processors, rather than the PowerPC and 68k processors used in their predecessors.-Technologies:...
Macintoshes. Instead of being an end-user product, Cider (like Winelib) is a
wrapperThe term wrapper generally refers to a type of packaging, such as a flat sheet made out of paper, cellophane, or plastic to enclose an object.In computing, it may also refer to:...
allowing developers to adapt their games to run natively on Intel
Mac OS XMac OS X is a line of computer operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc., and since 2002 has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
without any changes in source code.
Other projects using Wine source code include:
- ReactOS
ReactOS is a computer operating system intended to be binary compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows NT versions 5.x and up...
, a project to write an operating system compatible with Windows NTWindows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was originally designed to be a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was...
down to the device driverIn computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
level. (Although ReactOS uses Wine source code considerably, because of architectural differences, ReactOS code, like dlls written specifically for it such as NTDLL, USER32, KERNEL32, GDI32, and ADVAPI, is not generally reused in Wine.)
- Linux Unified Kernel
Linux Unified Kernel, also known as Longene and informally as LUK, is an operating system kernel intended to be binary-compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows and Linux...
, a project intend to be binary-compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows and Linux. This kernel imports all the key features of the Windows operating system kernel into the Linux kernel to support both Linux and Windows applications and device drivers.
- Darwine
Darwine is a port of the Wine libraries to Darwin and Mac OS X. The Darwine project intends to port and develop Wine as well as other supporting tools that will allow Darwin and Mac OS X users to run Windows applications, and to provide a Win32 API compatibility at application source code level.-...
, a port of the Wine libraries to DarwinDarwin is an open source POSIX-compliant computer operating system released by Apple Inc. in 2000. It is composed of code developed by Apple, as well as code derived from NEXTSTEP, BSD, and other free software projects....
and Mac OS X. Darwine originally aimed at compiling Windows source code to Mach-OMach-O, short for Mach object file format, is a file format for executables, object code, shared libraries, dynamically-loaded code, and core dumps. A derivation of the a.out format, Mach-O offered more extensibility and faster access to information in the symbol table.Mach-O was once used by most...
binaries. With the advent of Apple-Intel architecture, Darwine began running Win32 binaries in x86 Darwin and has approached version parity with the Wine trunk. The Darwine project also continues progress on PowerPCPowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors...
by combining Wine with the QEMUQEMU is a processor emulator that relies on dynamic binary translation to achieve a reasonable speed while being easy to port on new host CPU architectures....
x86 emulator.
- Odin
In computing, Odin is a project to run Microsoft Windows programs on OS/2 or convert them to OS/2 native format. It also provides the Odin32 API to compile Win32 programs for OS/2.The project's goals are:...
, a project to run Win32 binaries on OS/2OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
or convert them to OS/2 native format. The project also provides the Odin32 API to compile Win32 programs for OS/2.
- E/OS
E/OS is a virtual machine emulation system.E/OS is primarily based on the Linux kernel, QEMU, XFree86, and Wine, and is intended to be a replacement for operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, BeOS, OS/2, DOS, and Linux...
, a project attempting to allow any program designed for any operating system to be run without the need to actually install any other operating system.
- Rewind, a defunct MIT-licensed fork of the last MIT-licensed version of Wine.
- Parallels Desktop 3 for Mac
Parallels Desktop for Mac is a software product by Parallels, Inc., a developer of desktop and server virtualization software. Released on June 15, 2006, it was the first software suite to bring hardware virtualization mainstream to Macintosh computers with Intel processors.Initially, the software...
, a proprietary product that uses some Wine code for its DirectX handling.
Microsoft and Wine
Microsoft has generally not made public statements about Wine. However, the Microsoft Update software will block updates to Microsoft application software running in Wine-based environments. On February 16, 2005, Ivan Leo Puoti discovered that Microsoft had started checking the
Windows registryThe Windows Registry is a database that stores settings and options for Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains information and settings for hardware, operating system software, most non-operating system software, and per-user settings...
for the Wine configuration key and would block the Windows Update for any component. Puoti wrote, "It's ... the first time Microsoft has acknowledged the existence of Wine."
The
Windows Genuine AdvantageWindows Genuine Advantage is an anti-piracy system created by Microsoft that enforces online validation of the licensing of several recent Microsoft Windows operating systems when accessing several services, such as Windows Update, and downloading Windows components from the Microsoft Download...
(WGA) system also checks for existence of Wine registry keys. The WGA
FAQFrequently asked questions, or FAQs are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be frequently asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. Since the acronym FAQ originated in textual media, its pronunciation varies; "fack," "fax," "facts," and "F.A.Q." are commonly heard...
states that WGA, by design, will not run in Wine, as Wine does not constitute "genuine Windows". When WGA validation detects Wine running on the system, it will notify users that they are running non-genuine Windows and disallow genuine Windows downloads for that system. Despite this, some reports have circulated of the WGA system working in Wine, although this loophole has now been closed with the next WGA component update. In the case of
Internet Explorer 7Windows Internet Explorer 7 is a web browser released by Microsoft in October 2006. Internet Explorer 7 is part of a long line of versions of Internet Explorer and was the first major update to the browser in more than 5 years...
and
Windows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a digital media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
, Microsoft has since removed the WGA requirements.
Security
Because of Wine's ability to run Windows binary code, concerns have been raised over native Windows viruses and malware affecting Unix-like operating systems. However, programs running in Wine are confined to the current user's privileges, restricting any undesirable consequences. For this reason Wine should never be run as the
superuserOn many computer operating systems, the superuser, or root, is a special user account used for system administration.Many older operating systems on computers intended for personal and home use, including MS-DOS and Windows 9x, do not have the concept of multiple accounts and thus have no separate...
.
See also
- ReactOS
ReactOS is a computer operating system intended to be binary compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows NT versions 5.x and up...
, an early open-source operating system which is a clone of Microsoft Windows and use some libraries from wine.
- Linux Unified Kernel
Linux Unified Kernel, also known as Longene and informally as LUK, is an operating system kernel intended to be binary-compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows and Linux...
- System call
In computing, a system call is the mechanism used by an application program to request service from the operating system based on the monolithic kernel or to system servers on operating systems based on the microkernel-structure.- Background :...
- Executor
Executor is software for x86-based PCs that allows older 68k-based Apple Macintosh programs to be run under various x86-based operating systems. Executor was created by ARDI . As of 2005, Executor development has been indefinitely postponed...
(discontinued project), like Wine, except translates Macintosh Toolbox API calls and QuickDraw routines into equivalent Win32 or POSIX API calls.
- Windows Interface Source Environment
Windows Interface Source Environment was a licensing program from Microsoft which allowed developers to recompile and run Windows-based applications on UNIX and Macintosh platforms....
Further reading
- Jeremy White's Wine Answers - Slashdot
Slashdot, sometimes abbreviated as /., is a technology-related news website owned by SourceForge, Inc. It features user-submitted and editor-evaluated current affairs news with a "nerdy" slant. Each story on the site has an Internet forum-style comments section attached...
interview with Jeremy White of CodeWeavers
- Jeremy White interview on the "Mad Penguin" web-site
- Appointment of the Software Freedom Law Center
The Software Freedom Law Center is an organization that provides pro bono legal representation and related services to not-for-profit developers of free software/open source software. It was launched in February 2005 with Eben Moglen as Chairman. Initial funding of $4 million USD was pledged by...
as legal counsel to represent the Wine project
- Wine: Where it came from, how to use it, where it's going a work by Dan Kegel
External links