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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 Accuracyaccuracy|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, see [[Emulation Accuracy]] page for more information about terms like "[[Hypervisors|hypervisors]]", "[[Simulators|simulators]]", "[[Compatibility_layers|compatibility layers]]", "[[Wrappers|wrappers]]", "[[FPGA|FPGA-based hardware cloning]]" and "[[:Category:Emulators|software emulators]]".
==Compatibility layers==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulatorsemulators|Recommended]]
! scope="col"|Runs the following software
|-
!colspan="7"|PC / x86,x86-64
|-
|[[Wine]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD|Haiku}}|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}} <br />(Dev: {{WineDevVer}})]<br />[https://wiki.winehq.org/Haiku Haiku]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Windows applications and games
|-
|[[Proton]]<br/><small>(included with Steam)</small>
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ {{ProtonVer}}]<br/>[https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/tags git]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Windows games
|[[TeknoParrot]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|<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 {{TeknoVer}}]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|PC-based arcade games
|-
|Rosetta
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|N/A
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
|PowerPC OS X apps on x86-64 based Macs. Support ended with OS X 10.7
|-
|CrossOver
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|ChromeOS}}
|[https://www.codeweavers.com/products 2122.1.0]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|Windows applications and games
|-
|[https://mcpelauncher.readthedocs.io Minecraft Bedrock Launcher]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/minecraft-linux/mcpelauncher-manifest v0.10.0]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (Android version)
|-
|[https://waydro.id/index.html WayDroid]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://waydro.id/#install git]<br />[https://github.com/casualsnek/waydroid_script Extras script]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|Android software
|-
|libhoudini<br/>[https://groups.google.com/g/android-ndk-announce libndk]<br/>[https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/topic-technology/bridge-technology.html Intel BT]
|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], [https://github.com/ilhan-athn7/android_proprietary_native_bridge 6], [https://github.com/supremegamers/vendor_google_proprietary_ndk_translation-prebuilt 7]
|{{✗}} ||{{TBD}} ||{{~}}
|ARM apps
|-
|[[Anbox]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html git]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|Android software|-|[https://www.gfdgdxi.top/uengine-runner/Help/ UEngine]|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}|[https://github.com/gfdgd-xi/uengine-runner git]|{{~}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|Android software
|-
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|macOS software
|-
|Linuxulator
|align=left|{{Icon|FreeBSD}}
|[https://wiki.freebsd.org/Linuxulator Wiki]<br />[https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/linuxemu/ Docs]
|{{?}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|Linux software
|-
|[https://www.linzhuotech.com/index.php/home/index/xdroid.html xDroid]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://www.linzhuotech.com/Product/download 11.1.51]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|Android software
|-
|[[WineVDM]]
|[[WoW]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|?N/A
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|Windows 9x apps and games
|[[Win3mu]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|?[http://bitbucket.org/toptensoftware/win3mu Source]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|Windows 3.x apps and games
|DOS software
|-
|[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.|-|[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=A 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.|-!colspan="7"|Mobile ARM|-|Rosetta 2|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}|N/ ARMA|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}|x86-64 macOS applications on Apple Silicon Macs|-|CrossOver|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}|[https://www.codeweavers.com/products 22.1]|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}|Windows applications and games
|-
|Game Porting Toolkit|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}|[https://gist.github.com/Frityet/448a945690bd7c8cff5fef49daae858e Installation guide]|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}|Windows games|-|[https://box86.org/ Box86/Box64]|align=left|{{Icon|LiA|Android|Pandora|Pyra}}|[https://github.com/ptitSeb/box86 git-86]/[https://github.com/ptitSeb/box64/ git-64]|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}|x86-64 Linux programs|-|[[FEX-Emu]]|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM|Android}}|[https://github.com/FEX-Emu/FEX git]|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD~}}|x86 -64 Linux programs
|-
|[[Wine]]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM|Android}}|[https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/android/ Android builds]<br/>[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineDevVer}}ARM ARM support]|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗~}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|Windows applications and games
|-
|[https://waydro.id/index.html WayDroid]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://waydro.id/#install git]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|Android software
|-
|[https://github.com/xerpi/vita2hos Vita2hos]
|align=left|{{Icon|Switch}}
|[https://github.com/xerpi/vita2hos/releases/tag/alpha-0.3 Alpha 0.3]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|runs PlayStation Vita applications natively
|-
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover Hangover]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|LinuxARM|Android}}
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover/releases git]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|Windows applications and games
|-
|[[Skyline]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/skyline-emu/skyline/releases git]
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|Nintendo Switch games and homebrew
|-
|[[Anbox]]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html git]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}}
|Android software
|-
|[https://www.hikunpeng.com/document/detail/en/kunpengdevps/ug-exagear/usermanual/kunpengexagear_06_0002.html ExaGear-KunPeng]|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}} |[FEXhttps://www.hikunpeng.com/developer/devkit/exagear 3.0.0.1] |{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} |x86 Linux programs<abbr title="into Kunpeng platform instructions in real time">*</abbr>|-Emu]|[https://old.reddit.com/r/openKylin/comments/14u5kad/about_kmre/ KMRE]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://githubarchive.comkylinos.cn/FEXkylin/KYLIN-EmuALL/pool/universe/k/kmre/FEX gitkmre_2.4.8.7-0k0.9_arm64.deb 2.4.8.7-0k0.9]|{{TBD}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}|x86 and X86</br>[https://archive.kylinos.cn/kylin/KYLIN-ALL/pool/universe/k/kmre/kmre_2.5.0.2-64 Linux programs|0k0.1tablet3_arm64.deb 2.5.0.2-|[[Skyline]0k0.1tablet3]<ref group=A name=kmrearm>2.5.0.2 is only for some industrial tablets or similar devices with Phytium processors. Regular desktop devices should continue with 2.4.8.7 .</ref>|{{Icon|Android?}}|TBD|{{✓~}} |{{✓}} |{{✗}}|Nintendo Switch games and homebrewAllows openKylin/NeoKylin (with supported processors) to run Android applications.
|-
!colspan="9"|Console
|[[Nintendont]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii|WiiU}}
|[https://github.com/FIX94/Nintendont 2021-09-05git]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|GameCube games
|-
!colspan="7"|Other
|-
|LATX
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[http://pkg.loongnix.cn/loongnix/pool/main/l/lat/ 1.4.3 Beta 2]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|x86 Linux programs<abbr title="into LoongArch64 instruction set">*</abbr>
|}
<references group=A />
===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]] <small class="plainlinks" style="font-weight:normal;">[https://www.protondb.com/ (compatibility)]</small>: 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.
* [[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 running on Linux.* '''Rosetta''' was a compatibility layer for running PowerPC apps on x86-based Sega Lindbergh arcade boardMacs 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.
* [[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://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.
* [[Anbox]] is a project that aims to run Android applications on Ubuntu distributions. It is in alpha state and only known to work on Ubuntu 16.04. Anbox requires custom kernel modules to run because, unlike other emulators which emulate the whole Linux kernel, this one uses the host system's Linux kernel directly.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
==Wrappers==
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]
[[Category:Not really emulators]]
----
{{NEL}}
