Emulation General Wiki

Compatibility layers: Difference between revisions

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While not strictly emulation ''per se'' (hence why [[Wine]] stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator"), '''compatibility layers''' allow software written for one operating system to run on a different OS, often by translating system calls made by an application to their equivalent calls in the host operating system. In theory, this should allow for near-native performance since no processor emulation takes place, but in practice some software such as games will tend to run a bit slower due to other bottlenecks that occur as a result of [[Emulation accuracy|replicating the correct behavior]]. Compatibility layers may also make use of [[wrappers]], which translate a specific API to another because accounting for graphics APIs like Direct3D that aren't supported on non-Microsoft platforms. Additionally, compatibility layers may also use emulation in order to run software built for a different [[wikipedia:Comparison_of_instruction_set_architectures#Instruction_sets|architecture]], see [[High and low-level emulation]] page for more information about terms like "[[Hypervisors|hypervisors]]", "[[Simulators|simulators]]", "[[Compatibility_layers|compatibility layers]]", "[[Wrappers|wrappers]]", "[[FPGA]]" and "[[:Category:Emulators|software emulators]]".
This page is WIP. Feel free to help out


==Emulators==
==Compatibility layers==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|Latest version
! scope="col"|Compatibility
! scope="col"|[[Licensing|License]]
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended emulators|Recommended]]
! scope="col"|[[Recommended emulators|Recommended]]
! scope="col"|Runs the following software
|-
|-
! colspan="6"|PC
!colspan="8"|PC / x86
|-
|-
|[[Wine]]
|[[Wine]]
|Linux, macOS, Android
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD|Haiku}}
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download 3.0.3]
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}}<br />(Dev: {{WineDevVer}})]<br />[https://wiki.winehq.org/Haiku Haiku]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|[https://appdb.winehq.org/ ?]
|{{Green}} {{License|LGPLv21}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Windows applications
|-
|-
|[[Proton]]
|[[Proton]]<br/><small>(included with Steam)</small>
|Linux
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ 3.7 Beta]
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ {{ProtonVer}}]<br/>[https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/tags git]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|[https://www.protondb.com/ ?]
|{{Green}} {{License|BSD3}}<br>{{License|LGPLv21}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Windows games
|-
|[[WineVDM]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/otya128/winevdm/releases git]<br />[https://ci.appveyor.com/project/otya128/winevdm/ Dev]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|16-bit Windows applications
|-
|-
|[[TeknoParrot]]
|[[TeknoParrot]]
|Windows
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://teknoparrot.com/ 1.69]
|<abbr title="TPBootstrapper/Web Installer which downloads the latest versions of all components with TeknoParrot automatically for you.">[https://github.com/nzgamer41/TPBootstrapper/tags TPBootstrapper]</abbr><br/>[https://teknoparrot.com/download {{TeknoParrotVer}}]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|[https://teknoparrot.com/wiki/compatibility.html ?]
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|PC-based arcade games
|-
|CrossOver
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|ChromeOS}}<ref group=N>https://support.codeweavers.com/en_US/chrome-os/</ref>
|[https://www.codeweavers.com/products 22.1]
|[https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility ?]
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Windows applications
|-
|[https://usebottles.com/ Bottles]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/bottlesdevs/Bottles/releases {{BottlesVer}}]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Windows applications
|-
|[https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/winprog64/running-32-bit-applications WOW64]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|N/A
|?
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|32-bit Windows applications
|-
|[https://sober.vinegarhq.org/ Sober]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://sober.vinegarhq.org/sober.flatpakref Flatpak]
|?
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Roblox (Android version)
|-
|[https://vinegarhq.org/ Vinegar]
| align="left" |{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://vinegarhq.org/Vinegar/Installation.html Docs]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}})
|{{✓}}
|
|Roblox Studio (Windows version)
|-
|Janus-UAE
|align=left|{{Icon|AROS|MorphOS}}
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/janus-uae/ 1.4]
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/janus-uae/ ?]
|{{Green}} {{License|LGPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
|68k Amiga applications
|-
|Rosetta
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|N/A
|[https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/intel-based-macs-rosetta-compatibility-index/ ?]
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
|PowerPC OS X applications<ref group=N>Support ended with OS X 10.7 Lion.</ref>
|-
|[https://minecraft-linux.github.io/ Minecraft Bedrock Launcher]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://minecraft-linux.github.io/ Docs]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (Android version)
|-
|[https://github.com/Weather-OS/WineGDK WineGDK]
| align="left" |{{Icon|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD|Solaris|NetBSD}}
|[https://github.com/Weather-OS/WineGDK git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|LGPLv21}} ({{License|Copyleft}})
|{{✓}}
|
|Windows GDK games, mainly Minecraft Bedrock Edition
|-
|Linuxulator
|align=left|{{Icon|FreeBSD}}
|[https://wiki.freebsd.org/Linuxulator Wiki]<br />[https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/linuxemu/ Docs]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|BSD2}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|Linux applications
|-
|[https://gitlab.com/android_translation_layer/ Android Translation Layer]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://gitlab.com/android_translation_layer/android_translation_layer git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|Android applications
|-
|[[Whisky]]
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/Whisky-App/Whisky {{WhiskyVer}}]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}
|Windows applications
|-
|libhoudini
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/SGNight/Arm-NativeBridge#download-links-- 1], [https://github.com/Rprop/libhoudini#libhoudini 2], [https://archive.org/details/androidx86-houdini 3], [https://github.com/supremegamers/vendor_intel_proprietary_houdini 4], [https://github.com/m9rco/Genymotion_ARM_Translation 5]<br/> [https://github.com/niizam/Genymotion_A11_libhoudini 6], [https://github.com/ilhan-athn7/android_proprietary_native_bridge 7], [https://github.com/mrvictory1/libhoudini_bluestacks 8], [https://github.com/YuryenUcahh/libnb_script 9]
|?
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{TBD}} ||{{~}}
|ARM Android applications
|-
|libndk<abbr title="Not to be confused with Android Native Development Kit (NDK)">*</abbr>
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/ilhan-athn7/android_proprietary_native_bridge 1], [https://github.com/supremegamers/vendor_google_proprietary_ndk_translation-prebuilt 2]
|?
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{TBD}} ||{{~}}
|ARM Android applications
|-
|[https://www.gfdgdxi.top/uengine-runner/Help/ UEngine]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/gfdgd-xi/uengine-runner git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|Android applications
|-
|[[Darling]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/darlinghq/darling git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|macOS applications
|-
|[http://dosemu2.github.io/dosemu2/ DOSEmu2]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/dosemu2/dosemu2 git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|DOS applications
|-
|[https://www.linzhuotech.com/index.php/home/index/xdroid.html xDroid]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://www.linzhuotech.com/Product/download 11.1.51]
|?
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|Android applications
|-
|[[NTVDMx64]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/leecher1337/ntvdmx64 git]
|?
|{{?}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|DOS applications
|-
|Windows CE Compatibility Layer
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/dz333n/wcecl/actions/workflows/build.yml git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|MIT}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} <ref group=N>Currently only Solitaire and etcha.exe are known to work.</ref>
|Windows CE applications.
|-
|[https://old.reddit.com/r/openKylin/comments/14u5kad/about_kmre/ KMRE]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://archive.ubuntukylin.com/ubuntukylin/pool/partner/kmre_2.4.6.8+22.04_amd64.deb 2.4.6.8]</br>[https://archive.kylinos.cn/kylin/KYLIN-ALL/pool/universe/k/kmre/kmre_2.4.8.7-0k0.9_amd64.deb 2.4.8.7-0k0.9]<ref group=N name=kmrex86>2.4.8.7 is untested-NeoKylin never announced nor shipped this with x86 releases.</ref>
|?
|{{?}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}}
|Allows openKylin/Ubuntu Kylin to run Android applications.
|-
|[[Wineskin]]
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|[http://wineskin.urgesoftware.com/tiki-index.php?page=Downloads 1.7]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|LGPLv21}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|Windows applications
|-
|WineBottler
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|[https://winebottler.kronenberg.org/ 4.0.1.1 Dev]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|LGPLv21}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|Windows applications
|-
|[[Win3mu]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://bitbucket.org/toptensoftware/win3mu Source]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|Windows 3.x applications
|-
|-
|[[Ardi Executor]]
|[[Ardi Executor]]
|Windows, Linux
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|DOS}}
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20080404193445/http://www.ardi.com/ardi.php 2.1.17]
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20080404193445/http://www.ardi.com/ardi.php 2.1.17]
|{{✗}} ||?
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|MIT}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|Classic Mac OS applications up to System 6
|-
|[http://dosemu.sourceforge.net/ DOSEmu]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/dosemu/files/ 1.4.0]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|DOS applications
|-
|[[WoW]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|N/A
|?
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|Windows 9x applications
|-
|[https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/ Windows Subsystem for Linux '''1''']
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install Install guide]
|?
|{{?}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|Allows developers to run a Linux environment.
|-
|compat_linux
|align=left|{{Icon|NetBSD}}
|[https://www.netbsd.org/docs/guide/en/chap-linux.html Docs]<br />[https://man.netbsd.org/NetBSD-10.0/compat_linux.8 Manual]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|BSD2}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|Linux applications
|-
|compat_linux
|align=left|{{Icon|OpenBSD}}
|[https://man.openbsd.org/OpenBSD-5.1/compat_linux.8 Manual]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|BSD4}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|Linux applications
|-
|[https://gitlab.com/android_translation_layer/qemu-based-native-bridge nb-qemu]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://gitlab.com/android_translation_layer/qemu-based-native-bridge/nb-qemu git]<br/>[https://gitlab.com/android_translation_layer/qemu-based-native-bridge/nb-qemu-bionic bionic]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|ARM Android applications
|-
|[https://www.boxedwine.org/ Boxedwine]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://www.boxedwine.org/downloads/ 20.1.2]<br />[https://github.com/danoon2/Boxedwine git]<br />[https://sourceforge.net/projects/boxedwine/ Old repo]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{?}} ||{{TBD}}
|16-bit and 32-bit Windows applications.
|-
|Berberis
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/libs/binary_translation/+/refs/heads/main/ git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|Apache2}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{?}} ||{{TBD}}
|RISC-V Android applications
|-
!colspan="8"|Mobile / ARM
|-
|Rosetta 2
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|N/A
|[https://www.applegamingwiki.com/wiki/M1_Rosetta_2_compatible_games_list ?]
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|x86-64 macOS applications on Apple Silicon<ref group=N>AVX instruction support added in macOS 15 Sequoia.</ref>
|-
|CrossOver
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|[https://www.codeweavers.com/products 22.1]
|[https://www.applegamingwiki.com/wiki/M1_CrossOver_Windows_compatible_games_list ?]
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Windows applications
|-
|Game Porting Toolkit
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|[https://gist.github.com/Frityet/448a945690bd7c8cff5fef49daae858e Installation guide]
|[https://www.applegamingwiki.com/wiki/Game_Porting_Toolkit#Game_compatibility_list ?]
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Windows games
|-
|[https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/arm/apps-on-arm-x86-emulation Prism]
|align=left|{{Icon2|WoA}}
|N/A
|?
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|x86 and x86-64 Windows applications on Windows for ARM64 <ref group=N>https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/prism-x86-64-emulator/</ref>
|-
|[[Box86/Box64|Box86 / Box64]]
|align=left|{{Icon|LiA|Android|Pandora}}
|[https://github.com/ptitSeb/box86 {{box86Ver}}]/[https://github.com/ptitSeb/box64/ {{box64Ver}}]
|[https://box86.org/app/ ?]
|{{Green}} {{License|MIT}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|x86-64 Linux applications
|-
|[[FEX]]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM|Android}}
|[https://github.com/FEX-Emu/FEX git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|MIT}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|x86-64 Linux applications
|-
|[[Wine]]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM|Android}}
|[https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/android/ Android builds]<br/>[https://wiki.winehq.org/ARM ARM support]
|[https://appdb.winehq.org/ ?]
|{{Green}} {{License|LGPLv21}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|Windows applications
|-
|[https://gitlab.com/android_translation_layer/ Android Translation Layer]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://gitlab.com/android_translation_layer/android_translation_layer git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|Android applications
|-
|[https://www.cygwin.com/ Cygwin]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://cygwin.com/pipermail/cygwin-announce/2025-July/012416.html 3.6.4-1]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|Providing POSIX-compliant APIs, Linux-alike shell and tools on Windows for developers.
|-
|[https://gamenative.app/ Gamenative]
| align="left" |{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://gamenative.app/ 1.1.1]
[https://github.com/utkarshdalal/GameNative/releases git]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.gamenative Play Store (limited version)]
|[https://gamenative.app/compatibility/ ?]
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}})
|{{✓}}
|{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|X86 Windows applications
|-
|[[Winlator]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/brunodev85/winlator/releases {{WinlatorVer}}]
|[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UI0dCJTdxkAD8pDUoCtqwe7hCRSD35w0N3zESTmNYBU/edit?gid=0#gid=0 ?]
|{{Green}} {{License|MIT}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|X86 Windows applications
|-
|[[MiceWine]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/KreitinnSoftware/MiceWine-Application/releases {{MiceWineVer}}]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|MIT}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|X86 Windows applications
|-
|[[GameHub (compatibility layer)|GameHub]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://gamehub.xiaoji.com/download/ {{GameHubVer}}]
|?
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|X86 Windows applications
|-
|[https://github.com/Producdevity/gamehub-lite GameHub Lite]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/Producdevity/gamehub-lite/releases 5.1.0]<br />[https://github.com/Producdevity/gamehub-lite/releases 5.3.3 RC-1 <small>(experimental)</small>]
|?
|{{?}}  ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|X86 Windows applications
|-
|[https://minecraft-linux.github.io/ Minecraft Bedrock Launcher]
| align="left" |{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://minecraft-linux.github.io/ Docs]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}})
|{{✓}}
|
|Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (Android version)
|-
|[https://github.com/xerpi/vita2hos Vita2hos]
|align=left|{{Icon|Switch}}
|[https://github.com/xerpi/vita2hos/releases/tag/alpha-0.3 Alpha 0.3]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|PlayStation Vita applications
|-
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover Hangover]
|align=left|{{Icon||LinuxARM|Android}}
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover/releases git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|LGPLv21}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|Windows applications
|-
|[[Skyline]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/skyline-emu/skyline/releases git]
|[[Nintendo_Switch_emulators#Compatibility_layers_.28....29|See Switch page]]
|{{Green}} {{License|MPL2}} ({{License|Copyleft}})
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|Nintendo Switch games and homebrew
|-
|[https://www.hikunpeng.com/document/detail/en/kunpengdevps/ug-exagear/usermanual/kunpengexagear_06_0002.html ExaGear-KunPeng]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://www.hikunpeng.com/zh/developer/devkit/download/exagear 5.1.0]
|?
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|x86 Linux applications into Kunpeng platform instructions in real time
|-
|[https://old.reddit.com/r/openKylin/comments/14u5kad/about_kmre/ KMRE]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://archive.kylinos.cn/kylin/KYLIN-ALL/pool/universe/k/kmre/kmre_3.0.0.0-0k0.15_arm64.deb 3.0.0.0-0k0.15]</br>[https://archive.kylinos.cn/kylin/KYLIN-ALL/pool/universe/k/kmre/kmre_2.5.0.2-0k0.1tablet3_arm64.deb 2.5.0.2-0k0.1tablet3]<ref group=N name=kmrearm>2.5.0.2 is only for some industrial tablets or similar devices with Phytium processors.</ref>
|?
|{{?}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}}
|Allows openKylin/NeoKylin (with supported processors) to run Android applications.
|-
|[https://www.boxedwine.org/ Boxedwine]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM|macOS}}
|[https://www.boxedwine.org/downloads/ 20.1.2]<br />[https://github.com/danoon2/Boxedwine git]<br />[https://sourceforge.net/projects/boxedwine/ Old repo]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|16-bit and 32-bit Windows applications.
|-
|compat_linux
|align=left|{{Icon|NetBSD}}
|[https://www.netbsd.org/docs/guide/en/chap-linux.html Docs]<br />[https://man.netbsd.org/NetBSD-10.0/compat_linux.8 Manual]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|BSD2}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|Linux applications
|-
|[https://github.com/xodiosx/XoDos2 XoDos2]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/xodiosx/XoDos2/releases git]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|Open}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|Linux desktop and Windows applications
|-
!colspan="9"|Consoles
|-
|[[Nintendont]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii|WiiU}}
|[https://github.com/FIX94/Nintendont git]
|[[GameCube_emulators#Compatibility_layers_.28....29|See Gamecube page]]
|{{?}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|GameCube games
|-
| [[Emulators_on_Nintendo_Switch_2#Compatibility_Mode_.28nnCompat.29|nnCompat]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Switch2}}
| 20.1.1
| [https://www.nintendo.com/us/gaming-systems/switch-2/transfer-guide/compatible-games/ 98%]
| {{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}
| {{✓}}
| {{✓}}
|Nintendo Switch games
|-
|Boxedwine UWP
| align="left" |{{Icon|XboxOne}}
|?
|?
|?
|?
|
|16-bit and 32-bit Windows applications.
|-
 
!colspan="8"|Misc
|-
|[https://felix86.com/ felix86]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/offtkp/felix86 {{felix86Ver}}]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|MIT}} ({{License|Permissive}}) ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|x86-64 Linux applications on RISC-V.
|-
|LATX
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[http://pkg.loongnix.cn/loongnix/pool/main/l/lat/ 1.5.3 RC1]
|?
|{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|x86 Linux applications into LoongArch64 instruction set.
|-
|[https://www.boxedwine.org/demo/ Boxedwine demo]
| align="left" |{{Icon|Web}}
|[https://www.boxedwine.org/demo/ web demo]
|?
|{{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}})
|?
|
|16-bit and 32-bit Windows applications.
|}
|}
<references group=A />
<references group=N />
===Comparisons===
;[[Wine]]: is a free and open-source compatibility layer that aims to allow computer programs (application software and computer games) developed for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems, primarily Linux and macOS. Since late 2017 there is also an experimental build for Android. Wine is almost as old as the Linux project, starting in the summer of 1993. Today it's widely used, very popular and sponsored by companies such as CodeWeavers and Valve, and has even received some support from Microsoft themselves who donated the Mono implementation of the .NET Framework to the Wine project. The core Wine development aims at a correct implementation of the Windows API as a whole. In this regard, it's similar to the [[MAME]] project in its focus on correctness over usability. There are a lot of versions/forks of Wine which focus of different goals, such as usability, compatibility, gaming, office applications, etc. A few are listed below, Wikipedia has [[wikipedia:Wine_(software)#Other_versions_of_Wine|a more complete list]].
:;[[Proton]]: is Valve's one-click solution to play Windows games on Linux. It's included in the Steam Linux client by default. Simply click on a whitelisted game and it will launch without any configuration, or enable it for all games in the settings. Proton is based on a fork of Wine in combination with other components such as [[Wrappers|DXVK]] (which is a wrapper explained below) and FAudio.
:;[https://www.codeweavers.com/products/ CrossOver]: is a commercialized, supported version of Wine from CodeWeavers. It uses additional patches on top of Wine to make it easy to use. They contribute all of their work on CrossOvers back to Wine and make up about two thirds of the commits made to Wine. CrossOver is available on macOS, Linux and Chrome OS.
:;[[Wineskin]]: is an open-source compatibility layer which allows users to easily convert Windows software to macOS. The ports are in the form of Mac .app bundles with a self-contained Wine instance which are wrapped around the application to be converted.
:;[[Winlator]]: is an Android application that lets you to run Windows (x86_64) applications with Wine and Box86/Box64.
;[[FEX]]: FEX is a high-performance compatibility layer that enables the execution of ''x86 and x86_64 applications on ARM64 Linux''. It supports both 32‑bit and 64‑bit binaries and can be paired with [[Wine]] or [[Proton]] to run Windows games on ARM hardware. The project began in late 2018 when Valve approached the initial developer, ''Ryan "Sonicadvance1" Houdek'', and provided early funding and guidance to create a long‑term, open‑source solution for translating x86 code to native ARM64. Valve’s backing continued from the start, allowing FEX to mature alongside other Valve‑supported projects such as Proton. FEX utilizes a sophisticated Intermediate Representation (IR) and a dynamic recompiler (JIT) to translate instructions. It relies on a "RootFS" to provide an x86 environment, ensuring high compatibility with complex software and modern instruction sets like AVX. Its design makes it suitable for use on devices like the Snapdragon‑based Steam Frame, where Valve needs to run traditional x86 games and applications on ARM hardware. '''Comparison to Box86/Box64''': FEX emulates the full x86 user-land for high accuracy, whereas Box prioritizes speed by "wrapping" calls to native ARM libraries.
:;[https://gamehub.xiaoji.com/ GameHub] <small>(formerly GameFusion)</small>: Developed by the hardware company ''GameSir'', GameHub is a proprietary Android application designed to ''simplify Windows gaming on mobile devices''. It bundles [[FEX]], [[Proton]], and custom GPU drivers (like Turnip/Mesa) into a unified graphical interface. The app features cloud-synced controller profiles, a "virtual" Steam environment, and real-time hardware monitoring. However, because it is closed-source and developed by a Chinese entity, it has faced criticism for including extensive telemetry, requiring intrusive permissions, and potentially violating the GPL/MIT licenses of the open-source components it integrates.
::;[https://github.com/Producdevity/gamehub-lite GameHub Lite]: GameHub Lite is a community-modified version of the GameSir app designed to strip away the "bloat." It removes mandatory account registration, eliminates telemetry libraries, and reduces the number of required Android permissions. Users can log directly into Steam without a third-party intermediary. While it maintains the core performance of the original app, it sacrifices some of the official "cloud" convenience features in favor of a slimmer, more privacy-focused experience.
;[[Box86/Box64|Box86 / Box64]]: Box86 and Box64 are independent compatibility layers created by ''ptitSeb'' that allow ''x86 Linux programs to run on ARM systems''. Unlike other emulators, they use Library Wrapping: instead of emulating every instruction, they "wrap" common x86 libraries (like SDL, OpenGL, and OpenAL) and redirect those calls to the native ARM versions already installed on the host. This significantly reduces CPU overhead, making it the most efficient option for low-power SBCs (like Raspberry Pi) and Android handhelds. Box86 targets 32-bit applications, while Box64 handles 64-bit binaries. '''Comparison to FEX''': Box is often faster and "lighter" because it uses native ARM libraries, while FEX is more compatible with "pure" x86 code that lacks native ARM equivalents.
;[[TeknoParrot]]: is a compatibility layer for Windows PCs to run games originally made for Windows-based arcade systems. Has since version 1.51 also support for some games running on Linux.
;Rosetta: was a compatibility layer for running PowerPC apps on x86-based Macs on OS X versions prior to 1.07. '''Rosetta 2''' is a comptibility layer on Apple silicon Macs allowing x86-64 apps to run on ARM-based Macs. Note that Rosetta 2 is not strictly limited to MacOS apps as software such as Crossover is able to call it to emulate x86 code in Windows binaries.
;Prism: is the built-in compatibility layer in Windows on ARM to run traditional x86 (also x64 in Windows 11) Windows programs.
;[https://mcpelauncher.readthedocs.io/ Minecraft Bedrock Launcher]: is a compatibility layer made specifically to run the Android version of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition on Linux and macOS. It is not compatible with any other Android apps.
;Windows Subsystem for Linux 1: is a compatibility layer and shouldn't be confused with WSL2. WSL2 introduced important changes such as a real Linux kernel, through a subset of '''Hyper-V features''', so it's not a compatibility layer like WSL1.
;Berberis, libhoudini, libndk and nb-qemu: are Android [https://android.googlesource.com/platform/art/+/refs/heads/main/libnativebridge/README.md Native Bridges] used to run apps made for other architectures. libhoudini was made by Intel and Google with its most notable use being on WSA for Windows 11, libndk was made by Google to expand Android compatibility on Chromebooks, there's no official source to download them other than online reuploads or extracting them from those systems yourself.
;KMRE: is a compatibility layer and it's the official solution to run Android applications on computers with Chinese homegrown Phytium/KunPeng ARM processors and NeoKylin Linux operating system, though later also available on x86-64 on [https://www.ubuntukylin.com/index-en.html Ubuntu Kylin]. KMRE is not designed with third-party applications outside its app store and in fact, force installing third-party apps breaks older versions of KMRE. It's the go-to solution if you are restricted to working with these kinds of computers due to national security reasons. See [[Android_emulators#KMRE|KMRE section]] for more information.
;Vita2hos: is an early compatibility layer for Nintendo Switch that runs PlayStation Vita applications natively. Only able to load simple test homebrews such as vita-8 as of December 2022. Appears to only be developed every once in a while.
==Shims==
Shim is a library that transparently intercepts API calls and changes the arguments passed, handles the operation itself or redirects the operation elsewhere. Shims can be used to support an old API in a newer environment, or a new API in an older environment. Shims can also be used for running programs on different software platforms than they were developed for. [[Windows_2000/XP/Vista_emulators#Recommended_solutions|the EmulateHeap compatibility shim broke on Windows 11 22H2, and Win32 API changes in 24H2 have messed up games that rely on quirky behavior]].
==See also==
* [[Wrappers]] - Translate a specific API to another.
==External links==
* [https://box86.org/2024/08/box64-and-risc-v-in-2024/ Box64 and RISC-V in 2024] - What it takes to run The Witcher 3 on RISC-V.
[[Category:Compatibility layers|*]]
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