Wine 11 Released with Stable WoW64 Mode and Numerous Improvements
Wine 11, the latest release of the compatibility layer allowing Windows applications to run on Linux and other POSIX-compatible operating systems, is now available. A major highlight of this release is the stabilization of WoW64 mode, initially introduced as an experimental feature in Wine 9.
You can find a thorough list of changes in the Wine 11 release notes. Beyond the stabilized WoW64 mode, Wine 11 includes a wealth of improvements and fixes.
Here’s a breakdown of the key changes coming with the new WoW64 mode:
* 16-bit Application support: the new WoW64 mode now supports 16-bit applications.
* Forcing New WoW64 Mode: Existing WoW64 installations can be forced to use the new mode by setting the environment variable WINEARCH=wow64. This requires the Wine prefix to be a 64-bit installation (the default).
* 32-bit Prefix Deprecation: Pure 32-bit prefixes created with WINEARCH=win32 are now deprecated and are not supported in the new WoW64 mode.
* Unified Loader: The wine64 loader binary has been removed. A single wine loader now determines the correct mode based on the executed binary. When both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of an application are installed, the 64-bit version will launch by default. The 32-bit version can be launched by specifying its full path, for example: wine c:windowssyswow64notepad.exe.
Wine 11 represents a important step forward in compatibility and usability. For a complete overview of all the changes,consult the Wine Changelog.
You can download Wine 11 from the official WineHQ website. Those interested in comparing Wine to other methods of running Windows applications on Linux may also want to read about experiences with virtualization.