Difference between revisions of "Compatibility layers"

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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 be run on a different OS, often by translating API and 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 certain software such as games tend to run a bit slower such as in the case of OpenGL to Direct3D translation as done through Wine. Additionally, compatibility layers may also use emulation in order to run software built for a different architecture.
+
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 API and 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]], such as 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 architecture.
 
 
''This page is a WIP. Feel free to help out!''
 
  
 
==Compatibility layers==
 
==Compatibility layers==
Line 13: Line 11:
 
! scope="col"|Runs the following software
 
! scope="col"|Runs the following software
 
|-
 
|-
!colspan="6"|PC
+
!colspan="6"|PC / x86
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Wine]]
 
|[[Wine]]
|Unix and POSIX-compliant
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}}]
+
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}} <br />(Dev: {{WineDevVer}})]
|{{}} ||{{✓}}
 
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|[[Wineskin]]
 
|macOS
 
|[http://wineskin.urgesoftware.com/tiki-index.php?page=Downloads 1.7]
 
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|Windows applications and games
 
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Proton]]
 
|[[Proton]]
|Linux
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ {{ProtonVer}}]
 
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ {{ProtonVer}}]
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
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|-
 
|-
 
|[[TeknoParrot]]
 
|[[TeknoParrot]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://teknoparrot.com/ {{TeknoVer}}]
+
|{{TeknoVer}}
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|Windows-based arcade games
 
|Windows-based arcade games
 +
|-
 +
|CrossOver
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|ChromeOS}}
 +
|[https://www.codeweavers.com/products 19.0.0]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 +
|-
 +
|[[Anbox]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html Git]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Android software
 +
|-
 +
|[[Darling]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://github.com/darlinghq/darling Git]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
 +
|macOS software
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[WineVDM]]
 
|[[WineVDM]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/otya128/winevdm/releases v0.6.0]
+
|[https://github.com/otya128/winevdm/releases v0.7.0]<br />[https://ci.appveyor.com/project/otya128/winevdm/ Dev]
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 
|16-bit Windows apps and games
 
|16-bit Windows apps and games
 +
|-
 +
|[[Wineskin]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
 +
|[http://wineskin.urgesoftware.com/tiki-index.php?page=Downloads 1.7]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 +
|-
 +
|WineBottler
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
 +
|[https://winebottler.kronenberg.org/ 4.0.1.1 Dev]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[WoW]]
 
|[[WoW]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
|?
 
|?
 
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
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|-
 
|-
 
|[[Win3mu]]
 
|[[Win3mu]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
|?
 
|?
 
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
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|-
 
|-
 
|[[Ardi Executor]]
 
|[[Ardi Executor]]
|Multi-platform
+
|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]
 
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|Classic Mac OS software up to System 6
 
|Classic Mac OS software up to System 6
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Darling]]
+
!colspan="6"|Mobile / ARM
|Linux
 
|[https://github.com/darlinghq/darling Git]
 
|{{✓}} ||?
 
|Mac OS X Software
 
|-
 
!colspan="6"|Mobile
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Wine]]
 
|[[Wine]]
|[[Android emulators|Android]]
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}}]
+
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineDevVer}}]
|{{✓}} ||{{}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{}} <small>(WIP)</small>
 
|Windows applications and games
 
|Windows applications and games
|}
 
 
 
 
==Graphics APIs==
 
There are also compatibility layers for graphics APIs, sometimes refered to as wrappers. They enable software written for a specific graphics API to run on another. This can be used to run older software on more modern hardware and operating systems, such as games designed for the 3Dfx Glide API without the need for having 3Dfx Voodoo graphics card. Or running modern Windows games on Linux by translating the Direct3D calls to Vulkan.
 
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 
 
|-
 
|-
! scope="col"|Name
+
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover Hangover]
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|LinuxARM}}
! scope="col"|Latest Version
+
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover/releases 0.4.0]
! scope="col"|Active
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
+
|Windows applications and games
! scope="col"|Translates from
 
! scope="col"|To
 
 
|-
 
|-
!colspan="7"|PC
+
|[[Anbox]]
|-
+
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide nGlide]
+
|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html Git]
|Windows
+
|{{✓}} ||{{}}
|[http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide 2.0]
+
|Android software
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|Glide
 
|Direct3D, Vulkan
 
|-
 
|[http://dege.freeweb.hu/ dgVoodoo]
 
|Windows
 
|[http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2.html 2.55.4]
 
|{{✓}} ||?
 
|DirectX 1-7, Direct3D 8.1, Glide
 
|Direct3D 11
 
|-
 
|[https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk DXVK]
 
|Linux
 
|[https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases 0.95]
 
|{{✓}} ||{{}}
 
|Direct3D 10 & 11
 
|Vulkan
 
|-
 
|[https://github.com/disks86/VK9 VK9]
 
|Windows, Linux
 
|[https://github.com/disks86/VK9/releases 0.29.0]
 
|{{✓}} ||?
 
|Direct3D 9
 
|Vulkan
 
 
|}
 
|}
 
  
 
===Comparisons===
 
===Comparisons===
* [http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide nGlide] is a 3Dfx Voodoo Glide wrapper. It allows you to play games designed for 3Dfx Glide API without the need for having 3Dfx Voodoo graphics card. All three API versions are supported, Glide 2.11, Glide 2.60 and Glide 3.10. nGlide emulates Glide environment with Direct3D and Vulkan. Glide wrapper also supports high resolution modes. Has a [http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide/compatibility compatibility list].
+
*[[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. 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 Valves 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 DXVK (explained below) and FAudio.
* [http://dege.freeweb.hu/ dgVoodoo 2] is a wrapper for old graphics API's for Windows Vista/7/8/10. The API's it currently can wrap are: Glide 2.11, Glide 2.45, Glide 3.1, Glide 3.1 Napalm, DirectX 1-7 (all versions of DirectDraw and Direct3D up to version 7) and Direct3D 8.1. This wrapper can use Direct3D 11 with different device types as wrapping output such as hardware or software rendering.
+
**[[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.  
 +
* [[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 from the Linux-based Sega Lindbergh arcade board.
 +
* [[Darling]] is a translation layer that allows you to run unmodified macOS binaries on Linux. In its nature, it is similar to the well-known [[Wine]] project. At this point, does not yet run macOS application with a GUI.
  
* [https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk DXVK] is a Vulkan-based translation layer for Direct3D 10 & 11, which allows running Windows 3D applications on Linux using [[Wine]].
+
==Wrappers==
 +
Compatibility layers may also make use of '''wrappers''', which translate a specific graphics API to another. How the user sets up the wrapper varies between each project but most involve a drop-in replacement of the original libraries.
  
* [https://github.com/disks86/VK9 VK9] runs Direct3D 9 applications on Windows or Linux (with [[Wine]]) over Vulkan.
+
{{Main|Wrappers}}
  
 
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]
 
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]
 +
[[Category:Not really emulators]]

Revision as of 11:28, 19 January 2020

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 API and 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 replicating the correct behavior, such as 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 architecture.

Compatibility layers

Name Operating System(s) Latest Version Active Recommended Runs the following software
PC / x86
Wine Linux macOS FreeBSD 9.0
(Dev: 9.5 )
Windows applications and games
Proton Linux 8.0-5 Windows games
TeknoParrot Windows 1.0.0.140 Windows-based arcade games
CrossOver Linux macOS Chrome OS 19.0.0 Windows applications and games
Anbox Linux Git Android software
Darling Linux Git (WIP) macOS software
WineVDM Windows v0.7.0
Dev
16-bit Windows apps and games
Wineskin macOS 1.7 Windows applications and games
WineBottler macOS 4.0.1.1 Dev Windows applications and games
WoW Windows ? Windows 9x apps and games
Win3mu Windows ? Windows 3.x apps and games
Ardi Executor Windows Linux MS-DOS 2.1.17 Classic Mac OS software up to System 6
Mobile / ARM
Wine Android 9.5 (WIP) Windows applications and games
Hangover Android Linux ARM 0.4.0 Windows applications and games
Anbox Linux ARM Git Android software

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. 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 a more complete list.
    • Proton is Valves 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 DXVK (explained below) and FAudio.
    • 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.
  • 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 from the Linux-based Sega Lindbergh arcade board.
  • Darling is a translation layer that allows you to run unmodified macOS binaries on Linux. In its nature, it is similar to the well-known Wine project. At this point, does not yet run macOS application with a GUI.

Wrappers

Compatibility layers may also make use of wrappers, which translate a specific graphics API to another. How the user sets up the wrapper varies between each project but most involve a drop-in replacement of the original libraries.

Main article: Wrappers