Running windows apps on linux

Classic SysAdmin: How to Install and Use Wine to Run Windows Applications on Linux

Back in the mid 90s and early 00s, Linux, being a fledgling operating system, suffered from a severe lack of useful applications. This issue was especially critical in the world of business ─ where Windows desktop applications could make or break productivity. To overcome this weakness, a compatibility layer called WINE was created. The name originally stood for Wine Is Not an Emulator (because everyone mistook the tool for a Windows emulator). The name is now simply Wine.

Effectively, what Wine did was to allow Windows applications to run on the Linux platform. It wasn’t perfect, and the supported apps were limited. If you wanted Notepad, Calculator, or Solitaire…you were good to go.

But then something interesting happened. Over time more and more applications were supported until Wine became a must-have tool for many users and businesses (and especially Linux gamers). To date there are thousands of fully supported applications that now run on Wine (check out the application database for a full list) and that list is ever growing. Granted most of the Wine work is focused on games, but you’ll still find a healthy list of productivity apps available.

You might think, because of the complexity of bringing such a tool to life, that Wine would be complicated to install and use. That assumption would be incorrect. In fact, the developers of Wine have gone out of their way to make the compatibility layer as user-friendly as possible. What exactly does that mean? To make this easier, let’s walk through the process of installing Wine and then installing and running a Windows application with the tool.

I will demonstrate the process on Elementary OS Freya and install the latest version of Wine.

Installation

If you are running an Ubuntu derivative, you’ll find Wine located in the Software Center. Chances are, however, that version is outdated. Because of that, we want to avoid installing the “out of the box” version offered. To do this, we must add the official Wine repository. This can be done one of two ways, via command line or GUI. Since our goal is running Windows applications, let’s use the GUI method.

1. Click on the Applications menu
2. Type software
3. Click Software & Updates
4. Click on the Other Software tab
5. Click Add
6. Enter ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa in the APT line section (Figure 2)
7. Click Add Source
8. Enter your sudo password
9. Click Authenticate
10. Click Close
11. When prompted, click Reload
12. Open the Software Center
13. Search for Wine
14. Click the Wine entry and then click Install
15. Allow the installation to complete.

That’s it. Wine is now ready to help you install and run Windows applications. Remember, however, that not every application will work. Most will, but if you’re looking to get your in-house, proprietary solution up and running, you might hit a few snags.

Installing and running an app

Let’s install a very popular programmers notepad—Notepad++. You’ll want to download the file from a location that doesn’t include third-party app install options (which can cause the application installation to fail). To be safe, download the Notepad++ installer from Filehippo. You will find .exe file for Notepad in your Downloads directory. Right-click that file and select Open in Wine Windows Program Loader (Figure 3).

Upon first run, the Wine configuration for ~/.wine will be updated. This can, depending upon the speed of your machine, take a bit of time. Allow this to finish and then the all-too-familiar Windows installation wizard will start up and walk you through the installation of Notepad++.

Click Next and walk through the installation process. When the second screen pops up (Figure 4), you will notice a rather un-Linux Folder path.

Linux doesn’t contain a C drive as does Windows. Is this wrong? No. If you look in the ~/.wine folder, you will notice a folder called drive_c. Within that folder lies three familiar sub-folders:

As you might expect, this is your C drive. All of that is to say, leave the Folder path as-is during installation.

You will eventually come to the Choose Components section of the installation (Figure 5). Here you can select options for the installation. If your particular desktop environment allows desktop icons (and that is your preference for launching apps), you might want to select Create Shortcut on Desktop (to make the launching of the newly installed app easier—more on this in a moment).

The installation will complete and present you with the Finish screen. Leave the Run Notepad box checked and click Finish. Notepad++ will run (Figure 1).

What happens, if you didn’t add the app icon to your desktop, when you want to run the software again? This is one issue that can easily trip users up. Remember that Program Files sub-directory? If you venture into that folder, you’ll see a folder for Notepad++ which contains the notepad++.exe file. Guess what? Right-click that file, select Open in Wine Windows Program Loader, and Notepad++ will run.

Notepad++ is a simple example of how Wine works. When you dive into more complicated applications, your results may vary. The best thing to do is to go back to the Wine application database, locate the app you want to install, click on it, and check the current app status. You will find every app lists the version of Wine tested, if it installs, if it runs, and gives it a rating. There are:

• Platinum: Applications which run flawlessly out of the box.
• Gold: Applications which run with some modifications necessary.
• Silver: Applications which run with minor issues that do not affect usage.

You will also find some apps listed as Garbage, which means they won’t install and/or run.

If you have a Windows app that simply doesn’t have a Linux equivalent, never fear ─ Wine is here to assist you. Even though not every Windows app will run under Wine, the collection of apps that do is seriously impressive. And considering most everything we do nowadays is handled within a web browser, with a little help from Wine, you should be covered from every angle.

Ready to continue your Linux journey? Check out our Essentials of Linux System Administration course!

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How to Run Windows Apps on Linux the Right Way

These days we come across various applications that are cross platform supportive. Yet there are many Windows applications such as office suite of applications by Microsoft and so on, which are platform specific and cannot be directly run on different operating systems, be it Linux or Mac. This limits the application usage over wide platform by the users. In order to tackle them, some companies have come up with tools that enable to run Windows apps on Linux.

Below here, we have discussed two popular software: CrossOver 15 by CodeWeavers and Wine by Winetricks.

1. Run Windows Apps on Linux Using CrossOver 15

Released a few months back, the CrossOver is a Windows compatibility layer, based on Wine, for Linux and Mac OS developed by CodeWeavers Company. It integrates well with GNOME to enable the execution of Windows applications on Linux distributions. Note that, this tool is free of cost only for 14 days trial version; you need to purchase it later.

1. From the official page of CodeWeavers, download the CrossOver package. As I operate on Ubuntu 14.04, I have discussed the installation of the .deb package of CrossOver 15.

1. The recommended method for installing CrossOver on Debian based systems (Ubuntu, Mint, or Debian) is by using gdebi. Open the terminal and enter the below command:

sudogdebi crossover_15.0.1-1.deb

The installation is a bit time consuming.

1. After the installation is complete, open the CrossOver tool, which has a quite simple interface. Click on the ‘Install Windows Software’.

1. Next, the CrossOver Software Installer window will appear where you will be asked to select a Windows application to be installed on Linux.

The application you choose is described shortly along with the ratings. The options for browsing available applications and displaying installed applications are also provided below it. Click on ‘Continue’ to proceed further.

1. You will have to then select an installer source file. Here, just for example, I selected Microsoft Word 2007 Windows application and thus, its .exe file must be selected as installer file.

1. On clicking ‘Continue’, the last step of installing your app will begin. As you can see in the image below, the fonts of Word 2007 are being installed.

Once the installation is successfully completed, you will get a ‘Run Command’ window. Browse and choose the .exe file and click on ‘Run’, which uses the MS Word bottle to run the application.

2. Run Windows Apps on Linux Using Wine

What is Wine? Wine is another runtime environment that is used to run windows apps on Linux platform developed by Winetricks. If you are worried about How do you install Wine on Linux? Then following are the steps to install Wine and gradually, run Windows apps through Wine tool.

1. Open the terminal and enter the command:

sudo apt-get install wine

You will have to wait as it will take some time.

2. Accept the Wine License and enter yes [y] to continue. The Wine thus gets installed. On opening the Wine tool, you will be asked about your task as to what would you want to do. Select ‘Install an app’ to install windows app.

3. Then, a list of packages will appear on the window. Consider you wish to install MS Paint. Select it and click ‘OK’.

4. Wait till the download completes.

The app will get installed using wine command. It’s done! Your windows app is now ready to be used on Linux.

3. Use a Virtual Machine

This is another effective method to run Windows apps on Linux. The difference is that you are going to run an entire Windows OS inside the Linux environment. As you can guess, virtualization is the key here. There are a few solutions you can do for installing Windows within Linux.

Two of the popular virtualization solutions are VMWare Player and VirtualBox. Both have respective versions available for different Linux distributions. After installing these players, you can install the Windows OS inside them. It’s pretty much like launching a Windows PC, but everything happens inside an Ubuntu window. In addition, there are some customization options.

For instance, you can use the Seamless Mode and Unity Mode in VirtualBox and VMWare respectively. These features bring Windows applications into your Linux desktop. For instance, if you like to run Microsoft Word and LibreOffice simultaneously, both windows will be available in the same desktop.

It’s a fact that virtual machines consume a certain amount of resources. Given that your computer has a bit more than basic configuration, you needn’t worry. Everything is going to be fine at the end of the day. If you are okay with the concept of installing the OS inside another OS, Virtual Machines are the ultimate option.

4. Use Remote Desktop Feature

In case if you did not know, Microsoft Windows has an in-built Remote Desktop feature. If two devices are on a single network, one device can control the desktop and other activities. If you don’t need Windows app to be running all the time, you can get the best results from Remote Desktop Connection.

All you need to do is to enable Remote Desktop feature in your Windows PC. Then, you can install a viable remote desktop suite in your Linux device and start accessing the PC. As you can guess, you need another PC running on Windows to make this possible.

In some particular Linux distributions, there are in-built Remote Desktop suites as well. Otherwise, there is a rdesktop package you can install for free.

5. Another Alternative

It’s clear that you cannot completely leave Windows OS or Windows Apps. So, another viable option is not to leave Windows when you shift to Ubuntu or other Linux-based OS. Instead, you can set up Dual Boot with Microsoft Windows and Ubuntu. This can be selected during the Ubuntu installation. So, when you want to access some Windows-only feature, it’s all just a reboot away. We must say, the Dual Boot system will work perfectly fine almost all PCs out there.

Conclusion – Can You Run Windows Applications on Linux?

You can find many such compatibility layer software that helps run Windows apps on Linux and Mac OS such as PlayOnLinux, a version of Wine that has a user-friendly and eye-catching GUI; this is a must try. No matter how much efficiency you experience executing the apps on other platforms; it is still recommended to run the apps on their respective operating systems. Remember that, there are possibilities of instability and ultimately crashing of programs, making it difficult for users to work on any particular one consistently.

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