Wine is a software designed to run Microsoft Windows applications on a Linux system..

Wine stands for Wine is not emulator but you can simply believe it to be a Windows Emulator.

Wine creates a compatibility layer that enables implementation of Windows and it’s dynamic link library (.dll) files. Rather than going into much more details of it we will now install Wine on our system and then we’ll install a compatible software that may be used with WINE.

Just go to “Add/Remove Applications” under Applications menu and then search for “Wine” (Refer the screenshot below)

Check The “Wine Microsoft Windows Compatibility Layer” and then click “Apply Changes” to install.

Or enter

sudo apt-get install wine in terminal.

INSTALLING WINDOWS APPLICATIONS USING WINE

We will have a very simple installation procedure in which we’ll install WinRar in Ubuntu

So lets start:

• First lets download WinRar from here.
• Rright click the setup file (.exe file) and select “WINE Windows Program Loader“. (Double click should also work though as the installation of Wine should have set the opening of .exe files through Wine by default.)
• Next you’ll be faced with good old Widows Installer like interface.
• Install the application by clicking Next (If you Agree to Terms).

Remember that Wine is still a compatibility layer, it might be possible that you may not get many applications running. But the fact is, Wine is able to run various windows softwares like Adobe Photohsop, Microsoft Office 2003 easily.

The installed application should be available in Applications –> Wine –> Programs menu.

In case you don’t get a shortcut in the menu for the application, you may go to Applications –> Wine –>Browse C: Drive and then start the application by browsing the Program Files folder (through the desired application folder).

Note: If the .exe files are not opening through Wine by double clicking, you can always set Wine as the default application to open the .exe files by right clicking a .exe file, going to Properties –> Open With –> Add and select WINE WIndows Program Loader.

Note: It is always better to logout & then log-in again before starting an application for the first time.

For any troubleshooting, please feel free to ask at Forum.

More info about Wine to follow soon.