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 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.
+
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.
  
 
==Compatibility layers==
 
==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"|Operating System(s)
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 +
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
 
! scope="col"|Active
 
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
+
! scope="col"|[[Recommended emulators|Recommended]]
 
! scope="col"|Runs the following software
 
! scope="col"|Runs the following software
 
|-
 
|-
!colspan="6"|PC
+
!colspan="7"|PC / x86
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Wine]]
 
|[[Wine]]
|Linux, macOS
+
|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
 
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Proton]]
 
|[[Proton]]
|Linux
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ {{ProtonVer}}]
 
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ {{ProtonVer}}]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|Windows games
 
|Windows games
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[TeknoParrot]]
 
|[[TeknoParrot]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|{{TeknoVer}}
+
|[https://teknoparrot.com/download {{TeknoVer}}]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Windows-based arcade games
+
|PC-based arcade games
 +
|-
 +
|Rosetta
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
 +
|N/A
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|x86 macOS applications (PowerPC macOS apps on earlier versions)
 +
|-
 +
|CrossOver
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|ChromeOS}}
 +
|[https://www.codeweavers.com/products 21.1.0]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 +
|-
 +
|[[Anbox]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html git]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Android software
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Darling]]
 
|[[Darling]]
|Linux
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/darlinghq/darling Git]
+
|[https://github.com/darlinghq/darling git]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
 
|macOS software
 
|macOS software
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[WineVDM]]
 
|[[WineVDM]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/otya128/winevdm/releases v0.6.0]
+
|[https://github.com/otya128/winevdm/releases git]<br />[https://ci.appveyor.com/project/otya128/winevdm/ Dev]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 
|16-bit Windows apps and games
 
|16-bit Windows apps and games
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Wineskin]]
 
|[[Wineskin]]
|macOS
+
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
 
|[http://wineskin.urgesoftware.com/tiki-index.php?page=Downloads 1.7]
 
|[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
 
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[WoW]]
 
|[[WoW]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
|?
 
|?
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|Windows 9x apps and games
 
|Windows 9x apps and games
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Win3mu]]
 
|[[Win3mu]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
|?
 
|?
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|Windows 3.x apps and games
 
|Windows 3.x apps and games
 +
|-
 +
|[[NTVDMx64]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[https://github.com/leecher1337/ntvdmx64 git]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|DOS applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[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
 
|-
 
|-
!colspan="6"|Mobile
+
|[http://dosemu.sourceforge.net/ DOSEmu]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/dosemu/files/ 1.4.0]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|DOS software
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Wine]]
+
|[http://dosemu2.github.io/dosemu2/ DOSEmu2]
|Android
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}}]
+
|[https://github.com/dosemu2/dosemu2 git]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
+
|{{}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|Windows applications and games
+
|DOS 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 [[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.
 
**[[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.
 
 
 
==Graphics APIs==
 
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.
 
 
 
To understand why this is needed for older games, it's important to understand that during the 90s the graphics card market for [[Intel CPUs|IBM PCs and compatibles]] was in its infancy, and Direct3D wasn't an automatic choice for developers. Some games were often designed for 3Dfx's Glide API so that it would run with their Voodoo card. With 3dfx going bankrupt however, support for Glide didn't stay around and the API was made open-source, but NVIDIA and AMD never incorporated it into their drivers. A wrapper is now needed to play these games with hardware acceleration, or if we're lucky the game gets [[Game engine recreations/Source Ports|a port]] to other APIs instead.
 
 
 
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
 
 
|-
 
|-
! scope="col"|Name
+
!colspan="7"|Mobile / ARM
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 
! scope="col"|Translates
 
! scope="col"|Into
 
! scope="col"|Active
 
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 
 
|-
 
|-
! colspan="7"|90's APIs
+
|[https://box86.org/ Box86]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|LiA|Android|Pandora|Pyra}}
 +
|[https://github.com/ptitSeb/box86 git]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
 +
|x86 Linux programs
 
|-
 
|-
|[http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide nGlide]
+
|[[Wine]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide 2.10]
+
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineDevVer}}]
|Glide
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|Vulkan, Direct3D 9
+
|Windows applications and games
|{{✓}} ||{{}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Wine|Wine DirectX]]
+
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover Hangover]
|Windows, Linux, macOS
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|LinuxARM}}
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}}] <small>(Linux, macOS)</small><br /> [https://fdossena.com/?p=wined3d/index.frag 4.8] <small>Windows</small>
+
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover/releases git]
|DirectX 1-7
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{}}
|OpenGL
+
|Windows applications and games
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|-
 
|[http://dege.freeweb.hu/ dgVoodoo 2]
 
|Windows
 
|[http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2.html 2.6]
 
|Glide, DirectX 1-9
 
|Direct3D 11
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|-
 
|[https://www.dxgl.org/ DXGL]
 
|Windows
 
|[https://www.dxgl.org/downloads/ 0.5.16]
 
|DirectX 1-7
 
|OpenGL
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>WIP</small>
 
|-
 
|[http://www.glidos.net/ Glidos]
 
|Windows
 
|[http://www.glidos.net/download.html 1.53b]
 
|Glide <small>(DOS)</small>
 
|?
 
|{{✗}} ||?
 
|-
 
|[http://openglide.sourceforge.net/ OpenGlide]
 
|Windows
 
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/openglide/files/latest/download 0.09 Alpha]
 
|Glide
 
|OpenGL
 
|{{✗}} ||?
 
|-
 
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/psvoodoo/ psVoodoo]
 
|Windows
 
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/psvoodoo/files/latest/download 0.13]
 
|Glide
 
|Direct3D 9
 
|{{✗}} ||?
 
|-
 
! colspan="7"|2000's and later APIs
 
|-
 
|[https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk DXVK]
 
|Linux
 
|[https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases 1.2]
 
|Direct3D 10-11
 
|Vulkan
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|-
 
|[[Wine|Wine Direct3D]]
 
|Windows, Linux, macOS
 
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}}] <small>(Linux, macOS)</small><br /> [https://fdossena.com/?p=wined3d/index.frag 4.8]  <small>Windows</small>
 
|Direct3D 1-11
 
|OpenGL
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|-
 
|[https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/d9vk D9VK]
 
|Linux
 
|[https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/d9vk Git]
 
|Direct3D 9
 
|Vulkan
 
|{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>WIP</small>
 
|-
 
|[https://github.com/iXit/wine-nine-standalone Gallium Nine]
 
|Linux
 
|[https://github.com/iXit/wine-nine-standalone 0.4]
 
|Direct3D 9
 
|Native
 
|{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>WIP</small>
 
|-
 
|[https://source.winehq.org/git/vkd3d.git/ vkd3d]
 
|Linux
 
|[https://source.winehq.org/git/vkd3d.git/ 1.1]
 
|Direct3D 12
 
|Vulkan
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>WIP</small>
 
 
|-
 
|-
|[https://github.com/KhronosGroup/MoltenVK MoltenVK]
+
|[[Anbox]]
|macOS, iOS
+
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://github.com/KhronosGroup/MoltenVK/releases 1.0.33]
+
|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html git]
|Vulkan
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|Metal
+
|Android software
|{{✓}} ||?
 
 
|-
 
|-
|[https://www.collabora.com/news-and-blog/blog/2018/10/31/introducing-zink-opengl-implementation-vulkan/ Zink]
+
|[[FEX-Emu]]
|Linux
+
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/kusma/mesa/tree/zink Git]
+
|[https://github.com/FEX-Emu/FEX git]
|OpenGL
+
|{{TBD}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|Vulkan
+
|x86 and X86-64 Linux programs
|{{✓}} ||?
 
 
|-
 
|-
|[https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/dxup DXUP]
+
|[[Skyline]]
|Windows, Linux
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/dxup Git]
+
|TBD
|Direct3D 9-10
+
|{{✓}}
|Direct3D 11
+
|{{}}  
|{{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✗}}
 +
|Nintendo Switch games and homebrew
 
|-
 
|-
|[https://github.com/disks86/VK9 VK9]
+
!colspan="9"|Console
|Windows, Linux
 
|[https://github.com/disks86/VK9/releases 0.29.0]
 
|Direct3D 9
 
|Vulkan
 
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
 +
|[[Nintendont]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii|WiiU}}
 +
|[https://github.com/FIX94/Nintendont 2021-09-05]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|GameCube games
 
|}
 
|}
  
 
===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 9 and version 2.0 implemented Vulkan support, which also makes it work under Linux using [[Wine]] Staging 2.10.0 or newer.<ref name="nglidevulkan">http://www.zeus-software.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2044</ref> Glide wrapper also supports high resolution modes. This is currently the best Glide wrapper. 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 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 DXVK (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.
 +
* [[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.
  
* [http://dege.freeweb.hu/ dgVoodoo 2] is a closed-source wrapper for old graphics API's for Windows. 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), Direct3D 8.1 and Direct3D 9. This wrapper can use Direct3D 11 with different device types as wrapping output such as hardware or software rendering.
+
==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.
* [[Wine]] has an internal graphics API wrapper for Direct3D 1-11 using OpenGL. It works mostly well for older games, but is slower and has more bugs than newer wrappers using Vulkan, such as DXVK. It is possible to use Wine's wrapper in Windows using different forks.
 
 
 
* [https://source.winehq.org/git/vkd3d.git/ vkd3d] is an internal Wine wrapper for Direct3D 12 to Vulkan translation. Sponsored by Valve. Currently a work in progress.
 
 
 
* [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]].
 
 
 
* [https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/d9vk D9VK] is a  Direct3D 9 to Vulkan translation layer based off DXVK's codebase. Will be merged into DXVK if it matures enough <ref name="d9vktodxvk">https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/dxvk-102-is-out-with-some-bug-fixes-d9vk-seems-to-be-progressing-nicely.13868/comment_id=151909</ref>.
 
 
 
* [https://github.com/disks86/VK9 VK9] runs Direct3D 9 applications on Windows or Linux (with [[Wine]]) over Vulkan.
 
 
 
* [https://www.dxgl.org/ DXGL] is a free replacement for the Windows ddraw.dll library, running on OpenGL. It is designed to overcome driver bugs, particularly in Windows Vista and newer operating systems. It also adds various enhancements to the graphics output such as display scaling and filtering options. DXGL supports the DirectX 7.0 graphics APIs, however it is currently under development and does not work with many programs.
 
 
 
==External links==
 
[https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/dxvk-102-is-out-with-some-bug-fixes-d9vk-seems-to-be-progressing-nicely.13868/comment_id=151939 State of Direct3D 9-12 translation layers] by DXVK author YoRHa-2B (2019-04-02)
 
  
==References==
+
{{Main|Wrappers}}
{{Reflist}}
 
  
 
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]
 
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]
 +
[[Category:Not really emulators]]

Revision as of 22:31, 24 May 2022

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 FLOSS 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 PC-based arcade games
Rosetta macOS N/A x86 macOS applications (PowerPC macOS apps on earlier versions)
CrossOver Linux macOS Chrome OS 21.1.0 Windows applications and games
Anbox Linux git Android software
Darling Linux git (WIP) macOS software
WineVDM Windows git
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
NTVDMx64 Windows git DOS applications and games
Ardi Executor Windows Linux MS-DOS 2.1.17 Classic Mac OS software up to System 6
DOSEmu Linux 1.4.0 DOS software
DOSEmu2 Linux git DOS software
Mobile / ARM
Box86 Linux ARM Android Pandora Dragonbox Pyra git TBD x86 Linux programs
Wine Android 9.5 (WIP) Windows applications and games
Hangover Android Linux ARM git Windows applications and games
Anbox Linux ARM git Android software
FEX-Emu Linux ARM git TBD TBD x86 and X86-64 Linux programs
Skyline Android TBD Nintendo Switch games and homebrew
Console
Nintendont Wii Wii U 2021-09-05 GameCube games

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 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 DXVK (explained below) and FAudio.
    • 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.
  • 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