You’ll find Wine available in the Ubuntu Software Center. Both stable and beta versions are available — here, version 1.2 is stable and version 1.3 is beta. The stable version is more tested — sometimes, a regression in the beta version can cause an application to stop working, but some applications will only work with the newer, beta version. An application’s entry in the Wine application database sometimes contains information about the necessary version of Wine you’ll need.
Running an Application
Once you’ve got Wine installed, you can download an application’s EXE or MSI (Microsoft Installer) file and double-click it — just like you would if you were using Windows — to run it with Wine.
This isn’t always the best way to run an application. If you’re encountering a problem, you can run the application from the terminal to see detailed error messages that can help you troubleshoot the problem. Just use the following command:
wine /path/to/application.exe
If you have an MSI file instead, use the following command to install it:
wine msiexec /i /path/to/installer.msi
Bear in mind that many of the error messages don’t matter. For example, the fixme message here indicates that Wine doesn’t contain support for a specific function yet, but the application runs fine without this function.
If the application requires installation, install it as if you were using Windows.
Once it’s installed, you’ll find its shortcuts in your applications menu, and possibly on your desktop.
Wine’s Utilities
The Wine package comes with a few utilities, which you can access from the applications menu. Just type Wine in the application menu to search for them.
Wine’s configuration dialog contains a variety of options, some of which you may need to get applications working. You can set the Windows version Wine behaves as, or set specific Windows versions for each individual applicaiton. Other options include graphics, audio and theming settings.
The Uninstall Wine Software utility lists your installed software and allows you to remove programs.
The package also includes Winetricks, a helper script that automates some tasks. Winetracks can guide you through installing certain popular applications and games — you won’t find every supported application here, though.
The Registry & File System
Many applications require registry tweaks to work properly. You’ll often find information about which registry entries to modify on the application database. Execute the regedit command from a terminal to access Wine’s registry editor.
Wine uses a virtual Windows file system, which is stored in the hidden .wine folder in your home folder. Use the View -> Show Hidden Files option in the file manager to reveal it. Once you have, you’ll find a folder nameddrive_c in the .wine folder — this folder contains the contents of Wine’s C: drive.
Fun, geeky fact: Wine stands for “Wine is not a Windows emulator.” It doesn’t emulate Windows; it’s an implementation of the Windows API for Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris and the BSD family of operating systems.
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