Wine

Run Windows applications on Linux

Wine is an open-source compatibility layer that implements Windows APIs so many Windows applications and games can run on Linux. It runs programs against the host system instead of booting a full Windows virtual machine. That makes Wine useful when a Windows-only tool has no suitable Linux version, though compatibility depends on the individual program and its requirements.

What Wine offers

• 32-bit and 64-bit support: Wine's new WoW64 mode is now fully supported. Wine 11.0 also added support for 16-bit applications in this mode.
• Windows application interfaces: Wine implements Windows system and graphics APIs that programs expect, with support improving across releases as more functions and edge cases are covered.
• Per-application environments: Wine prefixes provide separate Windows-style files, registry settings, and configuration. Keeping applications in different prefixes can help avoid configuration conflicts.
• Games and graphics: Wine can run some Windows games as well as desktop software. Graphics compatibility varies by title, driver, and configuration.
• Linux packaging: Wine is available through Linux distribution repositories and official WineHQ packages. Package versions and included components differ, so check the instructions for your distribution before choosing a build.

Proton and Wine

Proton is Valve's compatibility tool for running Windows-only games through Steam on Linux. Valve builds it from Wine plus additional components and changes for Steam Play, so Proton uses Wine's Windows compatibility work while packaging a game-focused tool that Steam can manage. Proton is a separate project with its own releases; installing or updating Wine by itself does not update Proton.

For a Windows game in a Steam library, Proton is usually the most direct option because Steam can select and update the compatibility tool for that game. For Windows desktop applications, or programs launched outside Steam, Wine is the general-purpose layer; graphical front ends can help manage Wine setups.

Recent Wine releases

Wine 11.0, released on January 13, 2026, is the stable release. Its headline changes were full support for the new WoW64 architecture, including 16-bit applications, and support for Linux NTSYNC, which provides a kernel-backed implementation of Windows NT synchronization primitives when the system has the required kernel support.

Wine 11.19, released on October 2, 2026, is a development release, not a newer stable version. It adds vertical text support in GDIPlus, Unicode 18.0 character tables, DNS query caching, and improvements to the VBScript parser. Recent releases also added VA-API hardware video decoding in 11.16, then updated bundled vkd3d to 2.1 and introduced initial display mode emulation in 11.17. These changes arrive through Wine's development series; their availability depends on which branch and package a Linux distribution ships.

Who should consider Wine

Wine is worth considering when a specific Windows program is important to your Linux workflow and a native alternative will not do the job. Check the Wine Application Database for reports about the application and version you need before depending on it. Wine does not make every Windows program compatible, and some applications need extra components or configuration. If reliability is essential, verify your exact workload first. If Wine does not support a required feature, a native alternative or a Windows virtual machine may be a better fit.