How to Download Wine for Linux

Wine is a Windows emulator for computers.

Wine is a Windows emulator for computers running Linux. With Wine, you can run Windows applications on your Linux computer. While Wine does not work with all Windows software, it does have a large compatibility list. Wine can make the process of switching to Linux easier by allowing you to retain access to many of your most commonly used applications. You can install Wine on your computer using the built-in package manager for your distribution of Linux.

Instructions

1. Click the "System" menu at the top of the screen. Browse to the "Administration" category and click "Synaptic Package Manager." Enter the root (administrator) password for your computer and press "Enter."

2. Type "Wine" in the Quick Search box at the top of the window. The window below displays the versions of Wine that are available from the server.

3. Click the box next to the version of Wine with the highest number. For example, as of 2010, the most recent version is "Wine1.2." Click "Mark for Installation." A new window opens and displays all of the other software Wine requires that is not already installed. Click the "Mark" button at the bottom of the window.

4. Click the "Apply" button, and then click "Apply" again when the confirmation window is displayed. Linux begins downloading all of the marked files. After a few minutes, the title of the window changes to "Changes Applied."

5. Click the "Close" button and close the Synaptic Package Manager. Wine is installed. To use it, open a terminal window and type "Wine" followed by the name of the Windows application that you want to run.

Tips & Warnings

• The instructions in this article are specific to the Ubuntu distribution of Linux. Not all Linux distributions include the Synaptic Package Manager. However, you can download the package "Wine1.2" with the package manager that your Linux distribution uses to install Wine on your computer.

References

• Ubuntu Documentation: Wine

Resources

• Wine: Official Website