| <chapter id="introduction"> |
| <title>Introduction</title> |
| |
| <sect1 id="overview"> |
| <title>Overview / About</title> |
| |
| <sect2> |
| <title>Purpose of this document and intended audience</title> |
| <para> |
| This document, called the Wine User Guide, is both an easy |
| installation guide and an extensive reference guide. This guide |
| is for both the new Wine user and the experienced Wine user, |
| offering full step-by-step installation and configuration |
| instructions, as well as featuring extensive reference material |
| by documenting all configuration features and support areas. |
| </para> |
| </sect2> |
| |
| <sect2> |
| <title>Further questions and comments</title> |
| <para> |
| If, after examining this guide, the FAQ, and other relevant |
| documentation there's still something you can't figure out, |
| we'd love to hear from you. The <ulink |
| url="http://www.winehq.org/site/forums">mailing lists</ulink> |
| section contains several mailing lists and an IRC channel, all |
| of which are great places to seek help and offer suggestions. |
| If you're particularly savvy, and believe that something can be |
| explained better, you can file a <ulink |
| url="http://bugs.winehq.org/">bug report</ulink> or <ulink |
| url="http://www.winehq.org/site/sending_patches">post a |
| patch</ulink> on Wine's documentation itself. |
| </para> |
| </sect2> |
| |
| <sect2> |
| <title>Content overview / Steps to take</title> |
| <para> |
| In order to be able to use Wine, you must first have a working |
| installation. This guide will help you to move your system |
| from an empty, Wineless void to one boasting a fresh, up to |
| date Wine install. The first step, <link |
| linkend="getting-wine">Getting Wine</link>, illustrates the |
| various methods of getting Wine's files onto your computer. |
| The second step, <link linkend="installing">Installing |
| Wine</link>, details the various install processes available to |
| you. The third step, <link linkend="config-wine-main">Configuring |
| Wine</link>, shows how to customize a Wine installation depending |
| on your individual needs. The final step, <link |
| linkend="running">Running Wine</link>, covers the specific |
| steps you can take to get a particular application to run |
| better under Wine, and provides useful links in case you need |
| further help. |
| </para> |
| </sect2> |
| |
| </sect1> |
| |
| <sect1 id="what-is-wine"> |
| <title>What is Wine?</title> |
| |
| <sect2> |
| <title>Windows and Linux</title> |
| <para> |
| Different software programs are designed for different |
| operating systems, and most won't work on systems that they |
| weren't designed for. Windows programs, for example, won't run |
| in Linux because they contain instructions that the system can't |
| understand until they're translated by the Windows environment. |
| Linux programs, likewise, won't run under the Windows operating |
| system because Windows is unable to interpret all of their |
| instructions. |
| </para> |
| <para> |
| This situation presents a fundamental problem for anyone who |
| wants to run software for both Windows and Linux. A common |
| solution to this problem is to install both operating systems on |
| the same computer, known as "dual booting." When a Windows |
| program is needed, the user boots the machine into Windows to |
| run it; when a Linux program is then needed, the user then |
| reboots the machine into Linux. This option presents great |
| difficulty: not only must the user endure the frustration of |
| frequent rebooting, but programs for both platforms can't be |
| run simultaneously. Having Windows on a system also creates |
| an added burden: the software is expensive, requires a seperate |
| disk partition, and is unable to read most filesystem formats, |
| making the sharing of data between operating systems difficult. |
| </para> |
| </sect2> |
| |
| <sect2> |
| <title>What is Wine, and how can it help me?</title> |
| <para> |
| Wine makes it possible to run Windows programs alongside any |
| Unix-like operating system, particularly Linux. At its heart, |
| wine is an implementation of the Windows Application |
| Programing Interface (API) library, acting as a bridge between |
| the Windows program and Linux. Think of Wine as a compatibility |
| layer, when a Windows program tries to preform a function that |
| Linux doesn't normally understand, Wine will translate that |
| program's instruction into one supported by the system. For |
| example, if a program asks the system to create a Windows |
| pushbutton or text-edit field, Wine will convert that |
| instruction into its Linux equivalent in the form of a command |
| to the window manager using the standard X11 protocol. |
| </para> |
| <para> |
| If you have access to the Windows program's source code, wine |
| can also be used to recompile a program into a format that Linux |
| can understand more easily. Wine is still needed to launch the |
| program in its recompiled form, however there are many advantages |
| to compiling a Windows program natively within linux. For more |
| information, see the Winelib User Guide. |
| </para> |
| </sect2> |
| |
| <sect2 id="wine-features"> |
| <title>Wine features</title> |
| |
| <para> |
| Throughout the course of its development, Wine has continually |
| grown in the features it carries and the programs it can run. |
| A partial list of these features follows: |
| </para> |
| <para> |
| <itemizedlist> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Support for running Win32 (Win 95/98, NT/2000/XP), Win16 |
| (Win 3.1) and DOS programs |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Optional use of external vendor DLL files (such as those |
| included with Windows) |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| X11-based graphics display, allowing remote display to any |
| X terminal, as well as a text mode console |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Desktop-in-a-box or mixable windows |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| DirectX support for games |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Good support for various sound drivers including OSS and ALSA |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Support for alternative input devices |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Printing: PostScript interface driver (psdrv) to standard |
| Unix PostScript print services |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Modem, serial device support |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Winsock TCP/IP networking support |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| ASPI interface (SCSI) support for scanners, CD writers, |
| and other devices |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Advanced unicode and foreign language support |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Full-featured Wine debugger and configurable trace |
| logging messages for easier troubleshooting |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| </itemizedlist> |
| </para> |
| </sect2> |
| </sect1> |
| |
| <sect1 id="wine-versions"> |
| <title>Versions of Wine</title> |
| <sect2> |
| <title>Wine from Wine HQ</title> |
| |
| <para> |
| Wine is an open source project, and there are accordingly |
| many different versions of Wine for you to choose from. The |
| standard version of Wine comes in intermittant releases |
| (roughly every 90 days), and can be downloaded over the |
| internet in both prepackaged binary form and ready to compile |
| source code form. Alternatively, you can install a prerelease |
| version of Wine by using the latest available source code on |
| the CVS server. See the next chapter, Getting Wine (link: |
| getting wine), for further details. |
| </para> |
| </sect2> |
| <sect2> |
| <title>Other Versions of Wine</title> |
| <para> |
| There are a number of programs that are derived from the |
| standard Wine codebase in some way or another. Some of these |
| are commercial products from companies that actively contribute |
| to the Wine project. |
| </para> |
| <para> |
| These products try to stand out or distinguish themselves |
| from the standard version of Wine by offering greater |
| compatibility, easier configuration, and commercial support. |
| If you require such things, it is a good idea to consider |
| purchasing these products. |
| </para> |
| <table><title>Various Wine offerings</title> |
| <tgroup cols=3 align="left"> |
| <thead> |
| <row> |
| <entry>Product</entry> |
| <entry>Description</entry> |
| <entry>Distribution Form</entry> |
| </row> |
| </thead> |
| <tbody> |
| <row> |
| <entry> |
| <ulink |
| url="http://www.codeweavers.com/products/office">CodeWeavers CrossOver Office</ulink> |
| </entry> |
| <entry> |
| CrossOver Office allows you to install your favorite |
| Windows productivity applications in Linux, without |
| needing a Microsoft Operating System license. CrossOver |
| includes an easy to use, single click interface, which |
| makes installing a Windows application simple and fast. |
| </entry> |
| <entry> |
| Commercial; 30-day fully-functional demo available. |
| </entry> |
| </row> |
| <row> |
| <entry> |
| <ulink |
| url="http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxofficeserver">CodeWeavers CrossOver Office Server Edition</ulink> |
| </entry> |
| <entry> |
| CrossOver Office Server Edition allows you to run your |
| favorite Windows productivity applications in a |
| distributed thin-client environment under Linux, without |
| needing Microsoft Operating System licenses for each |
| client machine. CrossOver OfficeServer Edition allows you |
| to satisfy the needs of literally hundreds of concurrent |
| users, all from a single server. |
| </entry> |
| <entry> |
| Commercial |
| </entry> |
| </row> |
| <row> |
| <entry> |
| <ulink url="http://www.transgaming.com">TransGaming Technologies Cedega</ulink> |
| </entry> |
| <entry> |
| Cedega, formerly known as WineX, is a Wine version derived |
| from the old BSD licensed Wine tree. It is designed |
| specifically to function with games, and so development |
| is centered around ensuring compatibility with technologies |
| like Direct3D, DirectX, and various methods of copy protection. |
| </entry> |
| <entry> |
| Commercial; free CVS download of reduced version (no copy |
| protection support etc.) |
| </entry> |
| </row> |
| <row> |
| <entry> |
| <ulink |
| url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/rewind">ReWind</ulink> |
| </entry> |
| <entry> |
| ReWind is a Wine version derived from the old BSD licensed |
| Wine tree. Due to its BSD license it can't incorporate |
| most recent Wine patches, however its code can be used by |
| any software project without restriction. Although code |
| is occasionally contributed to ReWind alongside the main |
| Wine project, there has never been an official release of |
| ReWind. |
| </entry> |
| <entry> |
| Free, Open Source: BSD license |
| </entry> |
| </row> |
| </tbody> |
| </tgroup> |
| </table> |
| </sect1> |
| |
| <sect1 id="alternatives"> |
| <title>Alternatives to Wine you might want to consider</title> |
| <para> |
| There are many ways to run software other than through Wine. If |
| you are considering using Wine to run an application you might |
| want to think about the viability of these approaches if you |
| encounter difficulty. |
| </para> |
| |
| <sect2> |
| <title>Native Applications</title> |
| <para> |
| Instead of running a particular Windows application with Wine, |
| one frequently viable alternative is to simply run a different |
| application. Many Windows applications, particularly more |
| commonly used ones such as media players, instant messengers, |
| and filesharing programs have very good open source equivalents. |
| Furthermore, a sizable number of Windows programs have been |
| ported to Linux directly, eliminating the need for Wine (or |
| Windows) entirely. |
| </para> |
| </sect2> |
| <sect2> |
| <title>Another Operating System</title> |
| <para> |
| Probably the most obvious method of getting a Windows |
| application to run is to simply run it on Windows. However, |
| security, license cost, backward-compatibility, and machine |
| efficiency issues can make this a difficult proposition, which |
| is why Wine is so useful in the first place. |
| </para> |
| <para> |
| Another alternative is to use <ulink |
| url="http://www.reactos.com">ReactOS</ulink>, which is a fully |
| open source alternative to Windows. ReactOS shares code |
| heavily with the Wine project, but rather than running Windows |
| applications on top of Linux they are instead run on top of the |
| ReactOS kernel. ReactOS also offers compatibility with Windows |
| driver files, allowing the use of hardware without functional |
| Linux drivers. |
| </para> |
| </sect2> |
| <sect2> |
| <title>Virtual Operating System</title> |
| <para> |
| Rather than installing an entirely new operating system on your |
| machine, you can instead run a virtual machine at the software |
| level and install a different operating system on it. Thus, you |
| could run a Linux system and at the same time run Windows along |
| with your application in a virtual machine simultaneously on the |
| same hardware. Virtual machines allow you to install and run |
| not only different versions of Windows on the same hardware, but |
| also other operating systems, including ReactOS. |
| </para> |
| <para> |
| There are several different virtual machine offerings out there, |
| and some are also able to emulate x86 hardware on different |
| platforms. The open source <ulink |
| url="http://bochs.sourceforge.net/">Bochs</ulink> and <ulink |
| url="http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/">QEMU</ulink> can run |
| both Windows and ReactOS virtually. Other, commercial virtual |
| machine offerings include <ulink |
| url="http://www.vmware.com/">VMware</ulink> and Microsoft's |
| <ulink url="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/virtualpc/">VirtualPC</ulink>. |
| </para> |
| <para> |
| There are significant drawbacks to using virtual machines, |
| however. Unlike Wine, such programs <emphasis>are</emphasis> |
| emulators, so there is an inevitable speed decrease which can |
| be quite substantial. Furthermore, running an application |
| inside a virtual machine prevents fully integrating the |
| application within the current environment. You won't, for |
| example, be able to have windows system tray icons or program |
| shortcuts sitting alongside your desktop Linux ones, since |
| instead the Windows applications must reside completely within |
| the virtual machine. |
| </para> |
| </sect2> |
| </sect1> |
| </chapter> |
| |
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