Wine is not an emulator.
This is actually what wine stands for. It’s a bit confusing, but suffice it to say that Wine allows you to run Windows applications on Linux.
If you are interested in learning about the applications that can be run with Wine, Here is a searchable database It lists apps, from games to productivity tools, and everything in between.
But how do you actually run these Windows apps on Linux using Wine?
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let me show you.
How to run a Windows application on Linux using Wine
requirements
I’ll explain the process on Ubuntu Desktop, but Wine can be installed on most Linux distributions. To install Wine, you will need a running Linux distribution and a user with sudo privileges. That’s it. Let’s get to work.
The first thing you need to do is log into your Linux desktop and open a terminal window.
Install both Wine and Winetricks (a tool to make configuring Wine easier) with the command:
sudo apt-get install wine winetricks -y
If you are using a distribution based on RHEL or Fedora, you will first have to add the necessary repository using the command:
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/fedora/36/winehq.repo
You can then install Wine with the command:
sudo dnf install winehq-stable -y
Run the Winetricks application, which will automatically create the necessary directories for you using the command below.
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In the resulting window, you’ll want to click to select default wineprefix and click OK. In the next window, select Run winecfg and click OK. You can then configure the version of Windows you want Wine to imitate by selecting the option from the Windows Version drop-down list and clicking OK.
Winetricks makes it easy to configure a number of wine options. Photo: Jack Whalen
Winetricks also lets you take care of a number of other options, such as installing DLLs, fonts, and more. But at this point, you can close that window and get ready to install your first Windows app.
Install a Windows app with Wine
I will show you how to install Notepad++ Windows app with the help of Wine. That’s all you have to do:
First, download a file Windows installer app and save it to your downloads directory. Next, open a terminal window and change to the downloads directory with the command cd ~ / downloads.
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Run the installer with the command npp wine. *. exe. Finally, the Windows installation wizard will open, where you can click your way to success.
Installing a Windows app on Linux with Wine is simple. Photo: Jack Whalen
Once the installation is complete, you will find the Notepad++ launcher in the desktop menu.
Install a Windows application using Winetricks
Another cool Wine wrapper trick is the ability to install a Windows app directly from within Winetricks. If you launch the Winetricks app (which can now be launched from the desktop menu) and choose to install an app, you will be greeted with a list of apps that can be installed directly from the GUI.
This method will automatically download and run the necessary installer file and then open the installation wizard to complete the process.
Winetricks allows you to easily install a number of applications. Photo: Jack Whalen
More configuration may be required
Notepadd++ is a fairly simple app that can be installed using Wine. You may find that there are some applications (especially games) that require more configuration. If this happens, you’ll want to run the Winetricks app again to take care of these configurations.
The amount of work that needs to be done depends on the application you want to install. If you get errors when trying to install a Windows application via Wine, you may have to do a little research to find out which configurations are necessary for that particular application.
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Even with that possibility, installing supported Windows apps on Linux with Wine is much easier than you might think.
Enjoy Windows apps running on Linux.