Wine Is Not an Emulator (WINE) recently presented stable version 10.0 of its Windows compatibility tool for Linux. Arm-based Windows applications can now run on Linux distributions as well, albeit with limitations.
The open-source project WINE makes it possible to run Windows applications and games on Linux distributions and even macOS. For this purpose, the project developed its compatibility tool, WINE, which is more of a compatibility layer rather than an emulator.
Meanwhile, the project recently announced that this tool or layer has reached stable version 10.0. Of the approximately six thousand changes made in this version, the most important new feature is support for ARM64EC. This is the application binary interface (ABI) for Arm applications in Windows 11.
With this support, users can use both Arm and x86 code interchangeably. This makes it possible, for example, within native Arm applications, to still integrate (obscure) x86-code-based plugins or add-ons without immediately porting them to Arm code.
Also, Wine 10.0 now supports ARM64X. This is another application binary file that allows ARM64EC code to be used together with older ARM64 code for the release of Windows 11.
Other new features in WINE 10.0 include improved support for high-DPI displays, a Desktop Control Panel, and various Direct3D properties and the Vulkan renderer for games.
Limitations though
The new features bring many benefits to developers, but unfortunately, there is also a catch. ARM64EC support no longer works by default for certain well-known Linux distributions. For the support to work, this version needs a system page of 4K, which is exactly what the Windows ABI specifies.
However, many well-known Linux distributions, such as Asahi Linux, for making Linux work on Macbooks with Apple processors or versions of the Raspberry Pi OS, have 16K system pages by default, especially for improving performance. After all, when the pages are smaller, you need more of them, and managing many system pages can impact CPU performance.
Arm for Windows on the rise
Arm for Windows is booming. Last year, for example, Qualcomm introduced its Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus processors for Windows PCs. Consider, for example, the introduction of Microsoft’s own Surface Pro tablet and Surface laptop. The introduced Copilot+ PCs from most PC manufacturers also have Arm-based processors under the hood.
Furthermore, within the Windows 11 24H2 update, the Windows compiler, kernel, and skinner, among others, have been modified for better performance of Arm and some x86 processors. Furthermore, the tech giant has also updated its x86-to-Arm code translation feature and has now branded it “Prism.”
Finally, Microsoft has convinced many well-known application developers to release versions that now run natively on Arm. Examples include the Google Chrome browser, Adobe Photoshop, Dropbox, and Google Drive.
Also read: Windows on Arm is rapidly coming of age