Difference between revisions of "Windows Compatibility"

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So you can't find a Linux version of that software you want to install? Our last step is to try [https://appdb.winehq.org/ Wine]. Wine is a compatibility layer that tries to translate Window Binaries (.exe) calls into Linux calls. Sometimes this works really well, and other times nothing happens at all.
So you can't find a Linux version of that software you want to install? Our last step is to try [https://appdb.winehq.org/ Wine]. Wine is a compatibility layer that tries to translate Window Binaries (.exe) calls into Linux calls. Sometimes this works really well, and other times nothing happens at all. Wine will create a windows environment, with c drive, task manager and everything else.


For Steam games you can just use [[Steam]]. For games that are not on Steam, use [[Lutris]]. For other programs, [[Bottles]] might be good option. Check [https://www.protondb.com/ www.protondb.com] for Steam games, and [https://lutris.net/ lutris.net] for compatibility with all other games. There is also a paid for solution called [https://www.codeweavers.com/ Crossover] made by CodeWeavers. CodeWeavers are the same minds behind Valve's Proton so you should expect a pretty good product in general. They have a [https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility search feature that you should also use]. But usually you will not need it if you don't want to spend money.
== Games ==
For Steam games you can just use [[Steam]]. For games that are not on Steam, use [[Lutris]]. For Epic games and GOG you can use [[Heroic]] (or Lutris). For other programs, [[Bottles]] might be good option. Check [https://www.protondb.com/ protondb] for Steam games, and [https://appdb.winehq.org winehq appdb] for compatibility with all other games. While it is possible to use the existing game library on an NTFS drive, it is not recommended due to compatibility issues. It might work, but you could run into weird problems.


You can find all kinds of programs (including games that are not on protondb or lutris) in the wine [https://appdb.winehq.org/ AppDB]. [https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wine Here's an in-depth guide of wine stuff] but again, google and find how stuff works and it works. If you don't understand, please ask! The community is usually happy to help!
== Other Software ==
You can find all kinds of programs in the wine [https://appdb.winehq.org/ AppDB].  
 
[https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wine Here's an in-depth guide of wine stuff] but again, google and find how stuff works and it works. If you don't understand, please ask! The community is usually happy to help!


There are also other programs that try to help you with Wine, like [https://www.playonlinux.com/en/ PlayOnLinux].
There are also other programs that try to help you with Wine, like [https://www.playonlinux.com/en/ PlayOnLinux].
There is also a paid for solution called [https://www.codeweavers.com/ Crossover] made by CodeWeavers. CodeWeavers are the same minds behind Valve's Proton so you should expect a pretty good product in general. They have a [https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility search feature that you should also use]. But usually you will not need it if you don't want to spend money.
==Manually running wine==
==Manually running wine==
You typically would not want to do this, this is just for educational purpose.
You typically would not want to do this, this is just for educational purpose.


First, let's install Wine.<pre>sudo apt install wine</pre>On some systems, installing Wine allows you to double click an .exe and it will try to run just like in Windows, but if not, you would open a terminal and type (credit to [[U/whyhahm|/u/whyhahm]] for suggesting <code>cd</code> to directory before running):<pre>cd /path/to/program; wine file.exe</pre>
First, let's install Wine.<pre>sudo apt install wine</pre>On some systems, installing Wine allows you to double click an .exe and it will try to run just like in Windows, but if not, you would open a terminal and type (credit to [[U/whyhahm|/u/whyhahm]] for suggesting <code>cd</code> to directory before running):<pre>cd /path/to/program; wine file.exe</pre>
==DXVK/D9VK/Gallium Nine/VKD3D==
==Direct3D==
What are DXVK/D9VK/VK9/Gallium Nine? I'll let the projects explain themselves:
Direct3D is a propietary graphics API used by Windows to draw elements on the screen using your GPU. It's only Windows speciffic, so it's the biggest bottle neck of gaming on Linux. Cross-platform and open source alternatives are OpenGl and Vulkan, so the main idea is translate Direct3D instructions to Vulkan/OpenGL, which is Linux avaliable.
 
These are the common D3D translators for linux:


[https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk DXVK]: Vulkan-based D3D11, D3D10, and now D3D9, implementation for Linux / Wine
[https://fdossena.com/?p=wined3d/index.frag WineD3D]: The oldest one. Translates DirectX 1-11 to OpenGL. Slow but sometimes the only solution if your GPU is not [https://vulkan.gpuinfo.org/ Vulkan capable].


[https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/d9vk D9VK]: Used to be separate from DXVK, but now they are one project. Kept separate on this page for searching.
[https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk DXVK]: Vulkan-based D3D9, D3D11, D3D10. [https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/d9vk D9VK] used to be separated, but the docs are here


[https://github.com/iXit/wine-nine-standalone Gallium Nine]: Gallium Nine allows to run any Direct3D 9 application with nearly no CPU overhead, which provides a smoother gaming experience and increased FPS. Gallium Nine requires you to be using the Mesa3D driver though, so Nvidia users are out of luck. (Thanks to [[U/MicroToast|/u/MicroToast]] for the clarification)
[https://github.com/iXit/wine-nine-standalone Gallium Nine]: Gallium Nine allows to run any Direct3D 9 application with nearly no CPU overhead, which provides a smoother gaming experience and increased FPS. Gallium Nine requires you to be using the Mesa3D driver though, so Nvidia users are out of luck. (Thanks to [[U/MicroToast|/u/MicroToast]] for the clarification)


[https://source.winehq.org/git/vkd3d.git/ VKD3D] (and its currently more active [https://github.com/HansKristian-Work/vkd3d-proton -proton fork]): Translates D3D12 to Vulkan. Still in its early stages, but is already capable of running most games.
[https://source.winehq.org/git/vkd3d.git/ VKD3D] (and its currently more active [https://github.com/HansKristian-Work/vkd3d-proton -proton fork]): Translates D3D12 to Vulkan since DirectX12 "architecture" and functionality is different from older versions and it's low level (devs could fine tune stuff on your hardware more) like Vulkan
 
Okay, but what does that mean?
 
Direct3D (the graphical part of the DirectX API) is what most Windows game built after ~2000 use. You don't really need to know any technically details about it other than the fact that it's a Windows' only API. For the longest time, one of the biggest bottle necks for gaming on Linux was translating the Direct3D calls to OpenGL (a cross platform graphical API that works on Linux/most other OSes).
 
All of these projects attempt to translate Direct3D calls to something that Linux understands. As far as I'm aware, the most used one is DXVK.


Proton and [[Lutris]] both have support for automatically using these technologies, so you don't have to worry about what to do in order to take advantage of them.
Proton and [[Lutris]] both have support for automatically using these technologies, so you don't have to worry about what to do in order to take advantage of them.
Using these technologies you can get very good performance, sometimes even better than on Windows! Cyberpunk 2077 for example gets 40% more FPS in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL_d_5MWPfQ this video]. Note, that this is not true for all games, though. Some games still run with less FPS, in general you can expect about the same performance. Also note, that this is not the default experience, but a heavily [[Improving performance|optimized Linux install]]. Your default experience will be worse.

Latest revision as of 23:31, 26 April 2023

So you can't find a Linux version of that software you want to install? Our last step is to try Wine. Wine is a compatibility layer that tries to translate Window Binaries (.exe) calls into Linux calls. Sometimes this works really well, and other times nothing happens at all. Wine will create a windows environment, with c drive, task manager and everything else.

Games

For Steam games you can just use Steam. For games that are not on Steam, use Lutris. For Epic games and GOG you can use Heroic (or Lutris). For other programs, Bottles might be good option. Check protondb for Steam games, and winehq appdb for compatibility with all other games. While it is possible to use the existing game library on an NTFS drive, it is not recommended due to compatibility issues. It might work, but you could run into weird problems.

Other Software

You can find all kinds of programs in the wine AppDB.

Here's an in-depth guide of wine stuff but again, google and find how stuff works and it works. If you don't understand, please ask! The community is usually happy to help!

There are also other programs that try to help you with Wine, like PlayOnLinux.

There is also a paid for solution called Crossover made by CodeWeavers. CodeWeavers are the same minds behind Valve's Proton so you should expect a pretty good product in general. They have a search feature that you should also use. But usually you will not need it if you don't want to spend money.

Manually running wine

You typically would not want to do this, this is just for educational purpose.

First, let's install Wine.

sudo apt install wine

On some systems, installing Wine allows you to double click an .exe and it will try to run just like in Windows, but if not, you would open a terminal and type (credit to /u/whyhahm for suggesting cd to directory before running):

cd /path/to/program; wine file.exe

Direct3D

Direct3D is a propietary graphics API used by Windows to draw elements on the screen using your GPU. It's only Windows speciffic, so it's the biggest bottle neck of gaming on Linux. Cross-platform and open source alternatives are OpenGl and Vulkan, so the main idea is translate Direct3D instructions to Vulkan/OpenGL, which is Linux avaliable.

These are the common D3D translators for linux:

WineD3D: The oldest one. Translates DirectX 1-11 to OpenGL. Slow but sometimes the only solution if your GPU is not Vulkan capable.

DXVK: Vulkan-based D3D9, D3D11, D3D10. D9VK used to be separated, but the docs are here

Gallium Nine: Gallium Nine allows to run any Direct3D 9 application with nearly no CPU overhead, which provides a smoother gaming experience and increased FPS. Gallium Nine requires you to be using the Mesa3D driver though, so Nvidia users are out of luck. (Thanks to /u/MicroToast for the clarification)

VKD3D (and its currently more active -proton fork): Translates D3D12 to Vulkan since DirectX12 "architecture" and functionality is different from older versions and it's low level (devs could fine tune stuff on your hardware more) like Vulkan

Proton and Lutris both have support for automatically using these technologies, so you don't have to worry about what to do in order to take advantage of them.