Re:WindowsLies/BlockWindows
by cookiecaper on Friday November 06, 2015 @03:01AM
(#10518305)
WINE has been solving it much longer ;)
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If by "solving" you mean "adding even more problems". It's a crutch at best and a nightmare at worst. Why would you ever prefer WinE over a native version?
Re:WindowsLies/BlockWindows
by cookiecaper on Friday November 06, 2015 @10:18AM
(#10519850)
WINE is an amazing piece of software, one of the most impressive out there. I prefer it because it lets me do what I need to do without disrupting everything else I have going on. I do usually have to use a VM since the programs I need most struggle on WINE, but to the extent that I can run something in WINE, I really appreciate it. It's definitely better than having to lose 10GB+ of RAM and 100GB+ of disk to a VM. With games, a VM is usually not an option due to the need to virtualize video hardware; WINE allowed me to play Source-engine games in Linux for hundreds of hours over the years before native ports came out. I wish they would get DX11 support out some day so I can play recent games, though.
WINE can make a lot of really cool stuff happen. I suggest you take another look.
Disclaimer: I contributed a patchset to WINE 4 years ago.
>It's a crutch at best
And sometimes it is a crutch that Microsoft doesn't provide. I recall Windows Vista causing some pain for old games - such as requiring the Screen/Resolution window open otherwise Starcraft would run with corrupt colours. Wine isn't perfect, and I expect it never will be. But short of a full virtualised Windows XP, it is one of the best ways to run those old games that aren't getting treatment from the likes of GOG.