Wine is a free and open-source compatibility layer that can run Windows software on Unix-like operating systems. It has been in development since 1993, and the project released its first official Android builds in early 2018. Wine v4.0 is now available, and it has plenty of major improvements across all platforms.
Read MoreWine, the popular Windows compatibility layer, can now be installed on Android
If you're not familiar with it, Wine is a free and open-source compatibility layer for running Windows programs on Unix-like operating systems. It has been in development since 1993, and can run a wide variety of Windows programs on Linux and macOS (though modifications or tweaks are sometimes required).
CodeWeavers has been working on porting Wine to Android for the past few years, and the first alpha release arrived in August 2016. Although the company's products are commercial software, it does contribute many of its improvements back to the Wine codebase. Wine 3.0 was just released, and it's the first version you can install as an app on Android. Opening the app gives you a full-screen Windows display, much like the first builds of CrossOver for Android, with a Start menu at the lower-left corner.
Read MoreCrossOver for Android and Chrome OS enters open beta
CrossOver by CodeWeavers has been available for Mac and Linux for years, allowing users of those operating systems to run some Windows programs without a copy of Windows. It does this by utilizing Wine, an open-source Windows compatibility layer for Unix-based operating systems (CodeWeavers is one of the main contributors to Wine's codebase).
Read MoreCrossOver for Android runs Windows programs on x86 Android tablets and Chromebooks
If you have ever used Linux, Mac, or another *nix operating system, you've probably heard of Wine. No, not the beverage - it's software that allows Windows programs to run on platforms that aren't Windows. Wine is one of my favorite open-source projects, under development since 1993 and having a massive community of developers and testers. Wine also maintains a database of compatible programs, which should give you an idea of the impressive compatibility.
CrossOver is essentially a commercial version of Wine, offering technical support and easier configuration of programs. Almost three years after development started on CrossOver for Android, CodeWeavers (the company responsible for CrossOver) is finally sharing a working preview on Google Play.
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Wine Is Not An Emulator, But It Is Coming To Android: Work Started On Windows Compatibility Layer
Those of you who run Linux or Unix will be familiar with Wine, perhaps the best-known solution for running some Windows programs on open-source desktop operating systems. The long-running project is a staple of the Linux community. In a presentation at the Free and Open source Software Developers’ European Meeting (FOSDEM) 2013 in Brussels, Wine creator Alexandre Julliard confirmed spoke on an ARM-based version of the software and showed a brief demo of Wine running on Android.
The project is in the early stages. At this point, the ARM version of Wine on Android is functional, but far from practical - even though the Android build on display was emulated, the software is far too slow to be ready for prime time.
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