Wine 4.0 available: new features of this tool to run Windows applications and games on Linux
One of the main disadvantages of Linux, and the key point that users don't try this operating system for, is that it is not compatible with Windows applications and, although there are many applications available for both operating systems, others are exclusive to Windows (like Word, Excel, and other Microsoft apps, as well as Photoshop and other Adobe apps), which means in Linux you have to look for alternatives. Switching to Linux doesn't necessarily mean giving up the apps we use every day, and thanks to the Wine project, it's possible to run Windows programs in Linux no problem.
Wine is an open source set of library and dependency tools (not an emulator) designed to allow Linux users to run Windows applications seamlessly. A year has passed since those responsible for this project launched Wine 3.0, a year in which a large number of changes have been included, improvements and new features in this tool to shape the new Wine 4.0 , the latest version of this tool it comes to make it much easier and more efficient to be able to run any Windows application that we want on Linux without obstacles.
News of the new Wine 4.0
With Steam Play, Valve is seriously betting on the compatibility of most Windows games on Linux. Steam Play is basically a recommended and optimal configuration to be able to run specific Windows games on Linux through Wine. Therefore, the main novelties of this new version have mainly focused on improving this function.
The new Wine 4.0 has come in a big way bringing with it the support of Direct3D 12 and Vulkan API , as well as compatibility with HiDPI type screens when running this tool on Android.
However, these are not the only changes to Wine 4.0, and this new version comes with more 6000 internal improvements, improvements to optimize the general operation of applications, improvements when running Direct3D 10 and 11 content, and optimizations for reading and decoding certain types of content, such as MP3 or PNG images. A host of improvements and optimizations have also arrived regarding the integration of Wine with Linux system desktops, cryptography and networking.
How to download the new Wine 4.0
In the next link, we can see all the instructions for download and install Wine on Android, Linux and macOS , so we can easily find the steps to install it on one of the compatible systems.
In the case of Ubuntu, for example, what we need to do is add the keys from the repository to our system by running the following commands in a terminal:
- sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
- wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key
- sudo apt-key add winehq.key
Once these commands are executed, the only thing you need to do is update the software repositories and use apt to install Wine with the following commands:
- sudo apt update
- sudo apt install –install-recommend winehq-stable
In a few seconds, we will have the new Wine 4.0 installed on our system, and we will be able to take advantage of all the improvements and novelties that this tool offers us.
Are you a linux user ? Are you using Wine to run Windows apps and games on your distro?
