How to run Windows apps on Linux with Wine – it's easy

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Wine is here to help you run your Windows apps on Linux.
• The development team adds new features with each release.
• Some apps and games might require extra configuration.

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Windows 10 has been officially sunsetted, and the system requirements issue with Windows 11 has led many users to seek alternatives. One of the most popular alternatives to Windows is Linux, and its popularity continues to grow. In fact, within two days of saying goodbye to Windows 10, Zorin OS had its biggest download period of all time, with over 100,000 downloads of the popular OS. 

But what do Windows users do about running Windows apps on the open-source operating system? They turn to Wine. Wine is a compatibility layer that allows users to run Windows apps on Linux. Because many Windows applications lack native versions for Linux, it became necessary to create a means to run them on the open-source operating system.

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However, when you combine the lengthy list of native applications that users can install on Linux with the built-in app stores, the universal package managers Snap and Flatpak, AppImages, and Wine, the list of available software for Linux is massive.

Unfortunately, not every Windows app can run via Wine. If you’re curious about the apps that can, here’s a searchable database that lists them, from games to productivity tools and everything in between. 

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The good news is that the Wine development team is always busy. The latest release of Wine (version 11) includes NTSYNC support, a unified 64-bit binary, enhanced Wayland/X11 integration, improved graphics via Vulkan/D3D12, better gamepad/joystick support, and smoother performance via WoW64. You can read the entire list of improvements and additions on the official Wine GitHub page. 

When you combine these features with improvements in earlier releases, Wine becomes even more efficient and effective at running Windows apps and games on Linux.

So, how do you run those Windows apps on Linux with Wine? Let’s find out.

How to run a Windows app on Linux with Wine

What you’ll need: I’ll demonstrate the process on the latest release of Pop!_OS, but Wine can be installed on most Linux distributions. To install Wine, you’ll need a running Linux distribution and a user with sudo privileges. That’s it.

sudo dpkg –add-architecture i386

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings 
wget -O – https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key | sudo gpg –dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/winehq-archive.key

sudo wget -NP /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/dists/noble/winehq-noble.sources

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install –install-recommends winehq-stable -y

You will also need to install Winetricks, which can be done with the command:

sudo apt-get install winetricks -y

If you’re running Fedora, you have to install Winetricks manually, which can be done with the following command:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Winetricks/winetricks/master/src/winetricks && chmod +x winetricks && sudo mv winetricks /usr/local/bin/

winetricks

In the resulting window, click “Select the default wineprefix” and click OK. In the next window, select “Run winecfg” and click OK. You can then configure the version of Windows for Wine to mimic by selecting the option from the Windows Version dropdown and clicking OK:

Winetricks also allows you to manage several other options, such as installing DLLs, fonts, and more.

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At this point, though, you can close the window and prepare to install your first Windows app.

Installing a Windows app with Wine

I’ll show you how to install the Notepad++ Windows app with Wine’s help.

First, download the Windows installer for the app and save it in your Downloads directory. Then, open your terminal window and change into the Downloads directory with the command cd ~/Downloads.

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Run the Notepad++ installer with the command wine npp.*.exe. Finally, the Windows install wizard will open, where you can click your way to success. If you receive an error that 32-bit support is missing, you can run the following command to fix the error:

sudo dpkg –add-architecture i386 && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install wine32

Once the installation completes, you’ll find the Notepad++ launcher in your desktop menu.

Installing a Windows app with Winetricks

Another cool trick up Wine’s sleeve is the ability to install a Windows app directly from within Winetricks. 

If you run the Winetricks app, which can now be launched from your desktop menu, and select “Install an application,” you’ll be greeted with a list of applications that you can install directly from the GUI.

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This method will automatically download and run the necessary installer file and then open the installation wizard to complete the process:

Further configuration might be needed

Notepad++ is a simple app to install using Wine. However, some apps (especially games) might require further configuration. If that issue occurs, re-run the Winetricks app to correct the configurations.

The amount of work needed will depend on the app you want to install. If installing a Windows app via Wine produces errors, you might need to research the configurations for that particular app.

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Even with those potential issues, installing supported Windows apps on Linux with Wine is considerably easier than you might think. If your computer currently runs Windows 10 and won’t run Windows 11, why not install one of the many Linux distributions on the machine and continue using it for years to come?