Wine reaches milestone version 2.0 release, with 64-bit support and Retina compatibility f...

Posted:
in Mac Software
The team behind Wine, a tool that allows Windows programs to run on macOS and other operating systems, has released version 2.0 of the open source software, with 64-bit support for macOS included as part of 6,600 changes.




The milestone release is now able to handle 64-bit programs written for Windows on macOS for the first time, as well as the previous support of 32-bit software. In the release notes, it is also noted the macOS graphics driver is able to support a high-resolution rendering mode, improving the appearance on Retina-level displays, which can be enabled by changing the "RetinaMode" flag in the driver.

Support for "many new applications and games" are included in version 2.0, headlined by Microsoft Office 2013. Multiple changes relating to DirectWrite, Direct3D 10 and 11, DirectDraw, and other frameworks have enabled the extended support, with other alterations to networking, internationalization, and built-in tools also listed.

A new driver architecture has been put in place to enable support for HID devices, following the Windows model using platform-specific bus drivers and HID mini drivers. The inclusion of this new architecture will apparently be used in future releases to "unify support for HID devices" in the software, and potentially could be used for USB device support.

The arrival of Wine 2.0 comes nine years after version 1.0 released, with the team publishing occasional version updates between the milestone releases. The Wine team also claims this will be the first of a "new time-based, annual release schedule," which aims to increase the regularity of public releases.

Due to the new release schedule, the team notes that some features being worked on "couldn't be finished in time," and have been deferred to the next development cycle. This includes work on the Direct3D command stream, message-mode pipes, and full HID support.

Source code for the latest release, as well as binary packages for macOS and other operating systems, are available to download now. Those interested in using Wine could also consider using CrossOver, paid software from Codeweavers that uses Wine 2.0 but simplifies the process.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Don't need it, but still in awe of such clever people giving so much of their time for free. 
    AppleInsiderelijahgzroger73watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 18
    I've barely used Wine... but when it let me play AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake) right on my Mac with zero issues, I was very glad for the solution.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 18
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    I use it for Starfleet Command 2: Orion Pirates.
    ireland
  • Reply 4 of 18
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Glad to see this. It's a great piece of software. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 18
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    I've barely used Wine... but when it let me play AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake) right on my Mac with zero issues, I was very glad for the solution.
    Regarding games, I am curious about how well Wine works in that regard.  As I use Windows on my Mac Pro quite a bit by direct booting to Windows I often wonder about Wine as I'd still have macOS there too. Do you know if it can  support Direct X 11 or later and dual AMD GPUs with the latest Crimson drivers and Catalyst?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 18
    Congratulation guys and girls!!!
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 18
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    I use it for Starfleet Command 2: Orion Pirates.
    Do you happen to know answers to my questions @aaronsullivan above?
  • Reply 8 of 18
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    MacPro said:
    I've barely used Wine... but when it let me play AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake) right on my Mac with zero issues, I was very glad for the solution.
    Regarding games, I am curious about how well Wine works in that regard.  As I use Windows on my Mac Pro quite a bit by direct booting to Windows I often wonder about Wine as I'd still have macOS there too. Do you know if it can  support Direct X 11 or later and dual AMD GPUs with the latest Crimson drivers and Catalyst?
    If the FAQ is to be believed, DirectX 9c only.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 18
    Wine has turned gaming on MacOS from a disaster to a tragedy. The porting of games with Wine means Mac gamers are treated worse than third class citizens. Apple has done nothing to support gaming on MacOS, and the halcyon days of Bungie creating Mac first games of world class standard were frustratingly brief.

    MacOS desktop computers have the benchmarking performance of cheap PC laptops. The GPU's Apple uses are always generations behind what PC users are used to at similar price points.

    Wine will always be a millstone, never a milestone.
  • Reply 10 of 18
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    Rayz2016 said:
    Don't need it, but still in awe of such clever people giving so much of their time for free. 
    The developers do receive corporate sponsorship from Codeweavers where many are actual employees. Corel and Google also paid them to improve Wine so that their respective Windows applications would run better on Linux. 
    watto_cobraRayz2016
  • Reply 11 of 18
    You do not neccessarily need it for games and unproductive work. You should know that many applications for tuning or testing cars in shops un only on Windows as they were written some time ago and authors consider Mac to be niche market. Those tools could run in Wine with no need for Windows license. Similarily some Windows productive suits could run in Wine. You should know that manypeople in large commercial world create documents that are not compatible with OpenSOurce or could create problems when modified. At that point you may find yourself in need of Windows application, but why would you pay for Windows license if you already have MacOS? I have encountered those scenarios unfortunatelly.
    For fun reasons there is known track racing report application that has been implemented many years ago, but it is only for Windows. I am not talking about some gaming, but real live race track data from control tower at any track in the USA (it is around certain communication protocol). That Windows application works perfectly with Wine providing status data to teams in pits as well as advanced and demanding spectators. You know you have to leave your home sometimes and your portable device is not always the best to present volume data to analyze by expert user. Please do not confuse this with average Joe looking for F1 data for spectators fun - we are talking about something more advanced and in any local race track.
  • Reply 12 of 18
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    MacPro said:
    I've barely used Wine... but when it let me play AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake) right on my Mac with zero issues, I was very glad for the solution.
    Regarding games, I am curious about how well Wine works in that regard.  As I use Windows on my Mac Pro quite a bit by direct booting to Windows I often wonder about Wine as I'd still have macOS there too. Do you know if it can  support Direct X 11 or later and dual AMD GPUs with the latest Crimson drivers and Catalyst?
    It depends. Wine is ultimately a syscall and library call translator. For example, when a piece of software sends a Windows-style open() call, Wine recognizes it and translates it to a Linux or Mac open() call. It's more complicated than that, of course, but that's the general idea.

    Arcade-style games work really well, because they're mostly limited by CPU performance. Games that rely on the GPU don't do so well, because most DirectX calls don't translate directly to any OpenGL calls.

    Graphics programming in general is all kinds of awful. Most 3D graphics drivers provide two "paths" code can take. The "fast path" uses dedicated hardware to do certain complicated math very rapidly. The "slow path" does the math in software. There is sometimes a "medium path" which uses some hardware acceleration, but not full acceleration. The GPU vendors try to move as much as they can into the fast path. Unfortunately, programmers often have rather "interesting" ideas of how a problem should be solved. Getting code onto the fast path involves working with the developers to figure out what they are trying to do and comparing it to what they are actually doing, then replacing some of what they actually do with code the GPU vendor has written to do what they want to do. GPU drivers are basically a library of patches for thousands of games to get as much of their rendering as possible onto the fast path. This is why almost every big game release is accompanied by a new video driver release.

    With the graphics API second-guessing the programmer and the GPU driver developers second-guessing the graphics API, there's already a lot of translation going on. It probably isn't feasible for a team to add their own layer of translation when they don't have access to the hardware documentation or the code they're trying to translate.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 18
    yojimbo007yojimbo007 Posts: 1,165member
    Wine has turned gaming on MacOS from a disaster to a tragedy. The porting of games with Wine means Mac gamers are treated worse than third class citizens. Apple has done nothing to support gaming on MacOS, and the halcyon days of Bungie creating Mac first games of world class standard were frustratingly brief.

    MacOS desktop computers have the benchmarking performance of cheap PC laptops. The GPU's Apple uses are always generations behind what PC users are used to at similar price points.

    Wine will always be a millstone, never a milestone.
    Sad but true.. and super shortsighted of Apple. Shooting themselves in the foot .. bigtime. Hope they wake up and correct the course ....!....?
  • Reply 14 of 18
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    zimmie said:
    MacPro said:
    I've barely used Wine... but when it let me play AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake) right on my Mac with zero issues, I was very glad for the solution.
    Regarding games, I am curious about how well Wine works in that regard.  As I use Windows on my Mac Pro quite a bit by direct booting to Windows I often wonder about Wine as I'd still have macOS there too. Do you know if it can  support Direct X 11 or later and dual AMD GPUs with the latest Crimson drivers and Catalyst?
    It depends. Wine is ultimately a syscall and library call translator. For example, when a piece of software sends a Windows-style open() call, Wine recognizes it and translates it to a Linux or Mac open() call. It's more complicated than that, of course, but that's the general idea.

    Arcade-style games work really well, because they're mostly limited by CPU performance. Games that rely on the GPU don't do so well, because most DirectX calls don't translate directly to any OpenGL calls.

    Graphics programming in general is all kinds of awful. Most 3D graphics drivers provide two "paths" code can take. The "fast path" uses dedicated hardware to do certain complicated math very rapidly. The "slow path" does the math in software. There is sometimes a "medium path" which uses some hardware acceleration, but not full acceleration. The GPU vendors try to move as much as they can into the fast path. Unfortunately, programmers often have rather "interesting" ideas of how a problem should be solved. Getting code onto the fast path involves working with the developers to figure out what they are trying to do and comparing it to what they are actually doing, then replacing some of what they actually do with code the GPU vendor has written to do what they want to do. GPU drivers are basically a library of patches for thousands of games to get as much of their rendering as possible onto the fast path. This is why almost every big game release is accompanied by a new video driver release.

    With the graphics API second-guessing the programmer and the GPU driver developers second-guessing the graphics API, there's already a lot of translation going on. It probably isn't feasible for a team to add their own layer of translation when they don't have access to the hardware documentation or the code they're trying to translate.
    Ok thanks, I'll stick to booting into directly Windows on an external SSD, it works really well.
  • Reply 15 of 18
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member

    MacPro said:
    I've barely used Wine... but when it let me play AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake) right on my Mac with zero issues, I was very glad for the solution.
    Regarding games, I am curious about how well Wine works in that regard.  As I use Windows on my Mac Pro quite a bit by direct booting to Windows I often wonder about Wine as I'd still have macOS there too. Do you know if it can  support Direct X 11 or later and dual AMD GPUs with the latest Crimson drivers and Catalyst?
    If the FAQ is to be believed, DirectX 9c only.
    OK thanks.  It's sounds very limited.
  • Reply 16 of 18
    Apple has done nothing to support gaming on MacOS, and the halcyon days of Bungie creating Mac first games of world class standard were frustratingly brief.
    Really? so developing Metal which is proving to be far better in terms of resources pound for pound when compared to offerings from Nvidia and ATI isn't good for gaming?

    The problem has NOTHING to do with Apple which has woven some amazing things for gamers directly into the OS. The problem is lazy as developers who don't seem to care about the Mac platform for gaming.

    Games that have been programmed with OpenGL have PROVEN to run faster on a Mac than on a PC but developers still insist on developing for DirectX. Until the game developers start learning to program properly then it doesn't matter what Apple does Macs are going to be second class citizens on the gaming front.
  • Reply 17 of 18

    MacPro said:
    I've barely used Wine... but when it let me play AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake) right on my Mac with zero issues, I was very glad for the solution.
    Regarding games, I am curious about how well Wine works in that regard.  As I use Windows on my Mac Pro quite a bit by direct booting to Windows I often wonder about Wine as I'd still have macOS there too. Do you know if it can  support Direct X 11 or later and dual AMD GPUs with the latest Crimson drivers and Catalyst?
    If the FAQ is to be believed, DirectX 9c only.
    It is starting to support DirectX 10 and 11 but it's nowhere near reliable.

    I'll tell you this though, running games like Eve Online through Wine is much better than the other way of using Cider which is a knock off of Wine that most games companies use to get Windows games over on the Mac. There is a HUGE difference in running. So much so that Eve Online has killed off support for Cider and has made their client run only in Wine. 
  • Reply 18 of 18
    zimmie said:
    The "fast path" uses dedicated hardware to do certain complicated math very rapidly. The "slow path" does the math in software.
    fast:free::swift:slow::quick:qualm::hasty:laggy::speedy:idle::fleet:laden.
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