Wine for Linux

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I have been thinking about the possibility of installing Wine in my Linux Mint environment in order to be able to directly run Windows software in Linux Mint, rather than running Windows 8.1 in a VM. It seems that one day I may have no choice, if I want to continue running Windows software on my Linux Mint computer.

However, I am concerned that if I run Wine, and then install and run Windows software in Linux Mint, I may be introducing Windows vulnerabilities into my Linux Mint environment.

Would potential vulnerabilities be any different in other Linux distros?

Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

Thanks.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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jburk07

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My preference is to run Windows in a VM under Linux.  Less work, LOL!

1. Wine only works for certain compatible programs and versions of those programs.

Take a look at the WineHQ Wine Application Database (AppDB). Here you can get information on application compatibility with Wine.  https://appdb.winehq.org/

It can be hit or miss.  Matching those programs up with different versions of Wine that they are compatible with can result in installation of multiple Wine prefixes: https://linuxconfig.org/using-wine-prefixes

Lots to keep track of and a lot of testing and process of elimination to determine what works in your system.

There are tools:

https://linuxconfig.org/configuring-wine-with-winecfg

https://linuxconfig.org/configuring-wine-with-winetricks

2. Security implications of running Windows programs under Wine.  This article summarizes it as a non-issue: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/231365/wine-and-linux-security

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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des911, jburk07, Elly, MrJimPhelps

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I forgot to mention, there is a Linux app called “Play on Linux” that is based on Wine and has an installation wizard that hides all the Wine stuff under the hood.  Tries to keep it simple, but if you have issues you may have to dig into how Wine works.

It is focused mainly on games, but does support some Windows office and productivity apps.

I was able to get a couple of Windows apps to run with this. All you need is the original installation media for the program.  https://www.playonlinux.com/en/supported_apps.html

It has been a few years since I attempted using any of the Wine stuff, migrating to a VM instead, so my memory is a bit rusty on this topic.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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jburk07, Bill C., Elly, MrJimPhelps

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I have a new Mac with an OS that is, as it always has been from the days of the 2nd Coming of Steve Jobs to Apple, largely like Linux and very compatible with Linux applications, particularly professional-grade freeware from the GNU and other like organizations. In this Mac I have installed Office, which is practically the only set of Windows application software I need to use, and often, that has no counterpart in what is already out there and meant for Macs (there is Wine, but that is more like a VM workaround). So, when Win 7 reaches EOL, I’ll have the option of installing Win 8.1 in my Win 7 PC, or Linux, or continue to run Windows 7 off line for some limited kind of tasks (am not a fan of VM). If I install some distro of Linux (most likely, from what I have been hearing, Mint) I’ll do in the Mac whatever task requires Office and use both Mac and my old PC in some harmonious way that suits me best. In other words: if one can afford it, now really pays to have at least another computer besides the Win PC, and preferably one that has a UNIX-like OS (e.g. macOs, Linux, freeBSD… ) Such are the times we live in.

 

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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jburk07, MrJimPhelps, Elly

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I think the bottom line is you really need to soul search for what Windows applications you depend on, and take a hard look at the native Linux apps (or Mac) for alternative direct replacements.

There are some very good applications for Linux that can replace much of the web browsing, email, desktop productivity, and utilities that you need for personal use.  Web and application development, as well as educational apps, are well supported.  Excellent media players, photo editors and organizers, etc., are also readily available.

I switched to LibreOffice on my Windows machine for office apps years ago, and that also runs native in Linux.  Chrome and Firefox are both cross-platform.  Using Office online and Google Docs online is also an alternative.

The catch is when you really need to run professional applications that are only supported on Windows and Mac.  If that is the case you should probably start saving now for a Mac, if you really want to leave Windows behind. 

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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jburk07

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I use Libre Office almost exclusively. If I ever need Microsoft Office, there is always Microsoft Office Online. And I can run Office 365 with no problem whatsoever when I browse to it with Opera.

In fact, there isn’t much that I need that isn’t available in Linux. But there are a few things:
* Windows Movie Maker. So far I haven’t found anything that is as useful and easy to use for editing videos in the Linux world.
* Yellow pages scraper. Every now and then I do a scrape on YellowPages.com. The only program I have found for this is a Windows program.
* My Bible Mapper program. They aren’t going to do a Linux version, so if I want to use this program (and I do), I need a way to run Windows software.
* Scanning — I can scan in Linux; but my Windows scanning program is more useful and versatile. Every now and then I need the extra functionality of the Windows program.

I have until January 2023 to run these things in a supported Windows VM (Windows 8.1). Even after that, I can still run Windows software safely in the VM if I disconnect the VM from the internet.

The catch is when you really need to run professional applications that are only supported on Windows and Mac. If that is the case you should probably start saving now for a Mac, if you really want to leave Windows behind.

Actually, I’m considering installing Mac OS in a VM and running it on my Linux machine.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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cesmart4125, OscarCP, Elly, jburk07

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Sounds like you have a very short list of Windows “must haves”.

Those might be worth hacking with Wine to see if you can get them going without having to resort to using Windows.

Not sure what you are using Windows Movie Maker for, but if you haven’t already taken a look at OpenShot Video Editor, it’s worth a shot.  I tried it out a while back, and it seemed useful.  http://www.openshot.org

“OpenShot is a cross-platform video editor, with support for Linux, Mac, and Windows.”

“Adding titles to your video has never been easier. Use one of our templates, or make your own.”

“Quickly trim down your videos, and find those perfect moments. OpenShot has many easy ways to cut your video.”

For scanning I understand.  I couldn’t even get my Canon scanner drivers to run in Linux.

Might be worthwhile to just leave an old Windows PC running and connected to the scanner, but no internet, just as a scanning appliance.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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JohnW wrote:

For scanning I understand. I couldn’t even get my Canon scanner drivers to run in Linux.

I guess I just got lucky with this.  I bought my Canon scanner/printer all in one before I used Linux, but now that I do, it works right out of the box in a fresh Linux (Mint, Kubuntu are the ones I tried) installation.  Its a MF3010 b&w laser/scanner.

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

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Well at the time I last tried with my flatbed Canoscan 4400f, a high DPI color scanner (over 10 years old, twain compliant, originally designed for 2000/XP), it did not seem possible. I checked the Linux resources and no open source drivers could be found.

I just checked the Canon site and there are still no Linux drivers for this device.  None for Win10 either, but Win 7 drivers are supposed to work.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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I never checked before now to see if the Canon site had any drivers for Linux for my MF3010.

Edit: It looks like I was wrong about that… I just don’t remember going to Canon for the driver, but after inspecting the driver I have installed, it appears that I did get it from Canon directly.

For my MF3010 on the Canon site, there is a driver for the printer, but not for the scanner.  My scanner driver is part of the SANE package that comes preinstalled in Mint, which unfortunately (as you wrote) does not have any open source drivers that support your model.

With Linux having such small market share, it’s no surprise (disappointing, but no surprise) that vendors like Canon don’t release drivers for it with their older hardware.  If they can’t be bothered to at least make the Windows 7 driver officially support Windows 10, I don’t think Linux will fare any better.

I got lucky with mine, since I bought it without any concern about Linux, but any printer or scanner I buy from now on will have to be vetted first for Linux support.

Have you tried using a VM within Linux to scan?  Even though my scanner works well in Linux, I was not able to make it work with my bank’s Java applet to scan checks for deposit… the Java applet wanted WIA or TWAIN, but those are not supported by the SANE scanner package.  I would have thought that my scanner being WIA and TWAIN compatible would have been enough, but it wasn’t.

From the Windows VM, the scanner was recognized by the Java applet, and it works nicely.

You can try it without a Windows license to see if it works without having to commit to paying… I use Windows in the pre-activated mode for all my testing purposes.  In Windows 7, there is an option to skip entering the product key, while in 8.1 I just use the generic product key (if you search the web for generic Windows product keys, you will see them).  They’re accepted by the Windows installer, but it won’t activate with them, of course.

If I get it working like I want and I am pleased with the result enough to keep it, then I go look for a license to match the installation I just performed… that was how I did it with both of my Win 8.1 machines (both are dual boot with Linux).  No sense in paying for it before you know if it will work!

 

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

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No problem with running a fully activated version of Windows in a VM here.  I have an old copy of Windows XP 32-bit that has come in quite handy for this purpose.  I have some old software that will not install/run under newer Windows, so I keep it out of the dustbin with XP! 

I tested the USB pass-thru from host to guest in VirtualBox with another device, and that was a success.  So I suspect that if I install the Canon software in an XP VM it will work, although haven’t tested that yet.  Not been any great need for me to scan in Linux yet.  But that’s a good suggestion if it ever is necessary!

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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I finally got scanning to work for my Canon Pixma all in one from Linux Mint. Here’s how I did it:

1. If you want your printer/scanner to work as a wireless networked printer/scanner, the first thing you need to do is to get it connected to the network from any computer. Once it is successfully connected and useable from any machine, your Linux machine will see it and will be able to connect to it. If it is not connected to any machine, I have not been successful in connecting it to the Linux machine. In other words, the Linux machine should not be the first machine you connect it to.

If you have a Windows machine, you could install it on that machine first. You will likely need to set up your wifi networked connection via a USB cable, a feature which is not available in Canon’s Linux software, but which is available in their Windows software. You may be able to install it in a Windows VM on the Linux machine, thereby making it visible to the Linux host on that machine.

2. Go to Canon’s Thailand website, and do a search for the Linux software for your machine. Download the scanner software and the instructions. (You probably don’t need the printer software.) Follow the instructions very carefully.

(I heard that the Linux software was available on one of the Canon Asia websites. I selected Thailand because of Woody’s connection to Thailand.)

3. Once you have installed the software, you will need to launch it from a terminal session. However, you can easily make a launcher (shortcut) to launch the software straight from the desktop.

Using the above method, I have successfully gotten printing and scanning to work on my Linux Mint machine for two different Canon Pixma printer/scanners.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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MrJimPhelps wrote:

“If I ever need Microsoft Office, there is always Microsoft Office Online. And I can run Office 365 with no problem whatsoever when I browse to it with Opera.”

That’s a really useful bit of information and good to know. Thanks.

 

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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MrJimPhelps, cesmart4125

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Jim,

I’m a medical and science writer.  All of my customers, researchers and pharmaceutical companies, use Microsoft Office.

Please say more about using Office Online and Office 365. How cumbersome is it to use Office Online or Office 365 via Opera?

Also, what are the limitations of Libre Office?  Will someone using MS Office have problems opening manuscripts I send them?  Am I correct in thinking I can use Libre Office to make graphs?  Is this capability similar to that of Office?  How about making tables?

Thanks in advance for your information and advice.

Charles

 

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Regarding LibreOffice, I think that is a fine office suite.  But to use any office suite for collaboration with a team, it is probably better to use what the team uses, as far as full file compatibility and exchange.

If you are independent, and only need to exchange documents with others in PDF or web formats, then you are pretty much free to use any tools you wish.  But exchanging proprietary file formats can be sketchy if you are not using the native apps.

I will defer to Jim for his opinion of office online and 365, as I have never used them.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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If you don’t mind paying the monthly fee, I strongly suggest that you get Office 365 Business Premium. You will have the full version of Microsoft Office, including Outlook. And you will be able to either run it from your hard drive, just like you have always done with MS Office, or you can run the fully functional web version of each program. And it is all top quality stuff. I have used Office 365 Business Premium (both the installed programs and the web version), and I am very impressed with the solid, stable feel that the software has.

There are different levels of Office 365. You may not need Business Premium. If a lower level of the software will meet your needs, you will pay less per month.

One of my customers uses Office 365 Business Premium. This means that they can run it from your desktop (it is installed on the desktop) or via the web (there is a web version for Word, Excel, Outlook, and all other components of MS Office).

They purchased me a license for Office 365 Business Premium, so I was able to install it in my Windows 8.1 vm on my Linux Machine. However, I don’t have to run it that way; I can also go to https://www.office.com/ and run full versions of each Office program through my browser. (I use Opera, because I don’t have a script blocker installed in Opera; if I would disable the script blocker in Firefox, I could no doubt use Firefox as well for running Office 365.) I do all of this from Linux Mint, and I haven’t had any issues whatsoever running the online versions of the software.

You can also go here to run the free version of Microsoft Office:
https://products.office.com/en-us/office-online/documents-spreadsheets-presentations-office-online — this is Microsoft Office Online. The free version doesn’t have as much functionality as the paid version; but it may have enough for your needs.

The only thing cumbersome about running Microsoft Office Online is that your working drive is in the cloud. However, it is very easy to move files back and forth between your cloud drive and your local hard drive. It’s just that when you are working on a file, you are working on the cloud drive, not your hard drive. I believe that Office 365 can interact directly with your hard drive, unlike Microsoft Office Online, which interacts directly only with your cloud drive.

As far as Libre Office, it is not 100% compatible with Microsoft Office; but it is highly compatible. In fact, Libre Office is about all I use for my word processing and spreadsheet needs. It is a great program, very capable.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Elly

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JohnW:

“The catch is when you really need to run professional applications that are only supported on Windows and Mac.  If that is the case you should probably start saving now for a Mac, if you really want to leave Windows behind. ”

Quite so! And because some Windows software is so pervasive, when one needs to make, let’s say, a presentation at a conference in an unfamiliar  venue, where they’ll probably have a Windows PC, it is safer to use the corresponding Office application, in this example PowerPoint, to try to increase the chances that everything will work out smoothly and without nasty surprises when the time comes to put one’s slides in that mystery machine. So the talk won’t end before it starts, with the would-be speaker having to sit back in utter failure in a room where people try awkwardly to socialize waiting for the time when the next presentation should begin, so the session stays on schedule.

 

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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jburk07

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So I think we can agree that there are roughly two groups to be considered here.

1. Professional content creators, that need interoperability for presentation graphics, and graphics professionals that need to produce content consistently for print, web, or video media.  These type of apps are generally Windows/Mac only.

2. Home users, hobbyists, retirees, and others, that wish to use their computing resources as needed to enjoy computing locally and in the cloud, with some flexibility in the technical sharing logistics as compared to the professional content producers.

The first group would probably be best served with a Mac, while the rest could probably adapt to some version of Linux or even Chromebook, at a considerably lower expense.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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OscarCP wrote:

And because some Windows software is so pervasive, when one needs to make, let’s say, a presentation at a conference in an unfamiliar venue, where they’ll probably have a Windows PC, it is safer to use the corresponding Office application, in this example PowerPoint, to try to increase the chances that everything will work out smoothly and without nasty surprises when the time comes to put one’s slides in that mystery machine. So the talk won’t end before it starts, with the would-be speaker having to sit back in utter failure in a room where people try awkwardly to socialize waiting for the time when the next presentation should begin, so the session stays on schedule.

There have been anecdotes of people doing just that (making a presentation) when their Windows 10 laptop decided to start an update, which can take a very long time and can’t be interrupted.  There may have been other Windows PCs in the office, but none of them had the .ppt file or whatever it was on them, and forcing the updating PC off can easily render it unbootable, leaving its users (who are not computer administrators) unable to access the file at all.

We need an off switch on the updates.  Not a “later” switch, not a “I’m on a metered connection,” no active hours.  They’re not good enough, especially when MS disregards them whenever it feels like it.

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

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Elly

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I think that is exactly what a “gaming” mode or a “presentation” mode should entail.

The OS should be smart enough to detect a full screen mode application, and not interrupt under ANY circumstances!

As far as updates are concerned, there should always be an off switch, or a manual mode.  The worst case scenario for this would be traveling with a laptop, and then Windows decides to update and breaks the computer.  Away from home, without a spare PC or backups.  Yuck.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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JohnW wrote:

Not sure what you are using Windows Movie Maker for, but if you haven’t already taken a look at OpenShot Video Editor, it’s worth a shot. I tried it out a while back, and it seemed useful. http://www.openshot.org

I’ll have to check this out. Windows Movie Maker is one of the things that keeps me tied to Windows, because it is such a handy, useful, easy-to-use video editor.

Whenever I make a video, I load it into Windows Movie Maker. If the video is sideways in spots (e.g. if I turned the camera), I can rotate it to be straight up in those spots. Also, I can mute the sound in spots if needed. And I can cut out any parts that I don’t want. It is then very easy to save the final results as an MP4 file.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Another alternative for those users who need compatibility with Office Documents is Google Docs (if you don’t mind using Google). Works fine in Chrome/Firefox, and you save/export the docs to MS formats.

And here’s a nice article on ItsFoss about the nine best Linux Video Editors of 2018:

9 Best Free Video Editing Software for Linux In 2018

with pros/cons for each one.

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