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