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Wine

Wine is a software program that enables users to run many Microsoft Windows applications under other operating systems, primarily Linux. Wine was first developed in 1993 and has been continuously updated and changed since. It is a free software with half of its code written by volunteers and the rest sponsored by corporate interests that sell a supported version of Wine. Wine is a free software but when buying it from one of the corporate interests you are paying for the support, or the help you get when something goes wrong or Wine does not work.^[1]

Overview

Wine began by creating a program loader that could run Windows' 16-bit binaries and within six months it was possible to run Solitaire.In November of 1993, John Brezak added patches that allowed Wine to operate in NetBSD. These patches represented the first port of Wine to another architecture.Although Wine was first released in 1993, the first version was not stably released until October 17, 2008. While the release of Wine 1.0 was a large step forward, Wine continues to have problems running certain Windows programs and development continues. The development of Wine first began with multiple developers communicating over the linux-kernel mailing list and after a year and with growing interest users petitioned to create the newsgroup comp.emulators.ms-windows.wine. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of it's creation and the newsgroup was added to Usenet on July 19th, 1994. Development of Wine even to this day is extremely collaborative and mailing lists are used often for discussion.^[2]

Wine provides services that are typically provided by the kernel in Windows through a daemon known as wineserver. Wineserver implements basic Windows functionality and provides some extra functions like integration with the X Window System, a software system that provides a graphical user interface for networked computers, and translation of signals into Windows exceptions. Signals are the notification sent to a process to tell it that an event occurred, commonly used in Unix and Unix-like operating systems, and it is the Wine and Linux equivalent to exceptions used in Windows. Wine cannot copy the Windows kernel because of its basic structuring and Windows drivers are not compatible either. Certain applications like some copy-protected titles do not work due to this incompatibility.^[3]

Windows' response to Wine has never been public or verbally stated, although new Windows Updates check for the Wine configuration key and block the Windows Update. Also, the Windows Genuine Advantage system (WGA) checks for Wine registry keys, as well. As the WGA system checks for a genuine Windows, if a Wine registry key is found it notifies the user that he or she is running non-genuine Windows and disallows genuine windows downloads for that system. Although a loophole for the WGA system had been found for Wine, the most recent update for WGA has eliminated the loophole.^[4]

Significance

Wine allows Windows applications to run in non-windows operating systems. This accessibility gives computer users an alternative to a Windows operating system without having to make the sacrifice of giving up windows applications like Microsoft Word, Windows Media Player, and Windows games. Wine created a new market for Linux and Unix operating systems. Windows compatability gave Linux an appeal to the more tech-illiterate and acted as a convenience and incentive to the tech-savvy. With windows applications it is possible to have both the closer control experienced with Linux and the ease and convenience of Windows programs. Wine made it possible to have everything a tech-savvy might look for in one computer; there is no longer a need for dual operating systems. Most of the key windows applications can be run in Wine making Windows unnecessary and Linux can be the single operating system for a user. The invention of Wine put Linux on the market as a competitor of Windows and Apple because it had the dual advantages of being a free operating system and having Windows applications. Now, Wine can be used in Apple computers to run Windows applications, even highly complex games. Also, Wine can be used to run Windows OS on IOS, allowing Apple computers to use the Windows OS.