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The Linux distillery Run Window apps on Linux? It just takes a drop of mature wine
The Linux distillery Run Window apps on Linux? It just takes a drop of mature wine | Run Window apps on Linux? It just takes a drop of mature wine |
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| by David M Williams | |
| Thursday, 19 June 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 3 Wine has been in beta form for 15 years which is an astounding length of time on its road to stable release number one. Wine has been tested by people worldwide on thousands upon thousands of Windows programs. You can see the list and the success or otherwise at WineHQ’s application database. This isn’t a boring compilation of business software. Sure, Microsoft Office 2003 is on there, but the massive worldwide multiplayer phenomenon, World of Warcraft, is also included along with a vast range of other games including many with punishing graphics.Featured Whitepaper
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15 years is a pretty long time in technology. Wine’s developers explain this lengthy stint was largely a consequence of the sheer size of the Windows API as well as its arcane nature with variable quality documentation about the intent and effect of every single exposed routine. Additionally, it’s important to realise the enormity of the task: for any single Windows application to run absolutely tens of hundreds or more of APIs must be duplicated and work correctly. If something goes wrong, and the application fails to perform as expected, the debugging process is cumbersome because the original source code for the application is rarely ever available. It also didn’t help matters that Windows kept evolving. Obviously, Wine’s kick-off preceded Windows ’95. The first target for Wine’s developers was therefore the crusty old Windows 3.1 with its 16-bit API. While Solitaire, the mainstay of office workers globally, was made to work early on it took four years before the first huge success, when Microsoft Office ran successfully and perfectly. Unfortunately, by this time, 16-bit products were rapidly being replaced by 32-bit software and despite the great progress Wine was actually set back several years. That the team bothered continuing is a testament to their vision. Corel Corp came onboard in 1999 seeing Wine as a great way to get WordPerfect up and going on Linux. WordPerfect was once the kingpin of word processors but had lost its Windows dominance. Linux was a new potential market and Corel invested heavily in Wine which gave it major traction as well as greater visibility and credibility. This was a huge boost for Wine. It wasn’t so great, it turned out, for Corel because the Linux version of WordPerfect was a commercial failure. At this time some of the developers formed a company called CodeWeavers to make a living out of Wine by assisting companies with getting their legacy Windows apps working in a Linux environment. Things were looking positive. Then came Cedega. CONTINUED |
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