Windows app support bumps up a notch for Linux with Wine update

The latest version of Wine improves Windows apps on Linux systems.

What you need to know

• Wine recently received an update to version 6.0.
• The update improves Windows apps on Linux systems that use Wine.
• Wine can be used to run Windows applications and games on non-native systems.

Wine recently received an update that improves Windows apps running on Linux. The update comes in the form of Win3 6.0, and includes over 8,300 changes, according to its full release notes (via Tech Radar).

Wine is a compatibility layer that allows you to run thousands of Windows applications on Linux systems. Wine currently supports over 27,000 Windows applications and games, though it's worth noting that some games require special configuration. Popular supported apps and games include Office, Adobe Photoshop, and World of Warcraft.

The new release of version 6.0 has thousands of changes, but Wine's website highlights some of the biggest improvements:

• Core modules in PE format.
• Vulkan backend for WineD3D.
• DirectShow and Media Foundation support.
• Text console redesign.

The full release notes for Wine 6.0 explain that the core DLLs, which include NTDLL, KERNEL32, GDI32, and USER32 are now built in the Portable Executable (PE) format. As a result, people should see improvements for certain copy protection schemes.

The update also includes a new mechanism to associate a Unix library with the PE module. This change makes it so systems can call Unix libraries from PE when trying to perform a function that can't be handled by Win32 APIs.

Wine 6.0 also includes an experimental Vulkan rendered that translates Direct3D shaders to SPIR-V shaders. In another change related to Direct3D, the Direct3D graphics card database now recognizes more graphics cards and includes updated driver versions.

You can download the latest version of Wine from Wine's website.