Difference between pages "Stella" and "Compatibility layers"

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m (Updated version. Changed to multi-platform.)
 
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{{Infobox
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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.
|image = Stella_title.gif
 
|first = 4.0
 
|second = Yes
 
|third = Multi-platform
 
|fourth = [http://stella.sourceforge.net/theteam.php Stella Team]
 
|fifth = [http://stella.sourceforge.net/ SourceForge]
 
|sixth = [http://sourceforge.net/projects/stella/files/stella/ SourceForge]}}
 
  
'''Stella''' is an open source, multi-platform [[Atari 2600 emulators|Atari 2600]] emulator.
+
==Compatibility layers==
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 +
|-
 +
! scope="col"|Name
 +
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)
 +
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 +
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
 +
! scope="col"|Active
 +
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 +
! scope="col"|Runs the following software
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="7"|PC / x86
 +
|-
 +
|[[Wine]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 +
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}} <br />(Dev: {{WineDevVer}})]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 +
|-
 +
|[[Proton]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ {{ProtonVer}}]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|Windows games
 +
|-
 +
|[[TeknoParrot]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[https://teknoparrot.com/download {{TeknoVer}}]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|PC-based arcade games
 +
|-
 +
|CrossOver
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|ChromeOS}}
 +
|[https://www.codeweavers.com/products 20.0.0]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|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]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[https://github.com/otya128/winevdm/releases git]<br />[https://ci.appveyor.com/project/otya128/winevdm/ Dev]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|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]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|?
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows 9x apps and games
 +
|-
 +
|[[Win3mu]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|?
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows 3.x apps and games
 +
|-
 +
|[[NTVDMx64]]
 +
|align=left|
 +
{{Icon|Windows]]}}
 +
|?
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|DOS applications and games
 +
|-
 +
|[[Ardi Executor]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|DOS}}
 +
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20080404193445/http://www.ardi.com/ardi.php 2.1.17]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Classic Mac OS software up to System 6
 +
|-
 +
|[http://dosemu.sourceforge.net/ DOSEmu]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/dosemu/files/ 1.4.0]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|DOS software
 +
|-
 +
|[http://dosemu2.github.io/dosemu2/ DOSEmu2]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://github.com/dosemu2/dosemu2 git]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|DOS software
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="7"|Mobile / ARM
 +
|-
 +
|[[Wine]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
 +
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineDevVer}}]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
 +
|Windows applications and games
 +
|-
 +
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover Hangover]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|LinuxARM}}
 +
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover/releases git]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 +
|-
 +
|[[Anbox]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
 +
|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html git]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Android software
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="9"|Console
 +
|-
 +
|[[Nintendont]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii|WiiU}}
 +
|[https://github.com/FIX94/Nintendont 2021-07-12]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|GameCube games
 +
|}
  
==Downloads==
+
===Comparisons===
*[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/Stella?&max-results=12 Windows Dev Builds]
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*[[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]].
*[http://stella.sourceforge.net/downloads.php Stable Releases]
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**[[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.
  
==Overview==
+
==Wrappers==
Stella is also available as a [[libretro]] core for [[RetroArch]], albeit an older version (3.4.1).
+
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.
  
Some may say that emulating an Atari has no point, since the games were so simplistic due to hardware limitations of the time that gaming has far surpassed them. However, if you have a curiosity for Atari despite not being born in the era, or if you just want to re-live some nostalgic memories, this emulator is great. It also has some television filters to up the nostalgia factor.
+
{{Main|Wrappers}}
  
==Links==
+
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]
[http://www.libsdl.org/download-2.0.php SDL 2.0.] You need this as it's required to run Stella (and some versions aren't packaged with it.) It's easy to install. It's just a .dll that you drop into your Stella folder.
+
[[Category:Not really emulators]]
 
 
[[Category:Emulators]]
 
[[Category:Windows emulation software‏‎]]
 
[[Category:Linux emulation software]]
 
[[Category:OS X emulation software]]
 

Revision as of 14:48, 13 September 2021

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
CrossOver Linux macOS Chrome OS 20.0.0 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 ? 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
Wine Android 9.5 (WIP) Windows applications and games
Hangover Android Linux ARM git Windows applications and games
Anbox Linux ARM git Android software
Console
Nintendont Wii Wii U 2021-07-12 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