It’s been a long time coming, but Wine 2.0 is finally here. The open-source Windows compatibility layer reached version 2.0 yesterday, bringing with it a host of improvements and changes. This release also marks the first release of the new time-based annual release cycle for the project, which focuses on a hard release date instead of feature completeness.
As such, some features were delayed to the next release, most notably full human interface device (HID) support, and the planned Android graphics driver. There are still many big changes and fixes, however.
One big target was to support Microsoft Office 2013. Using Wine, Linux users can now run Office on their desktops. Among the more than 6,600 other changes, new support for 64-bit macOS is another highlight.
(Related: Yahoo open-sources Screwdriver)
Many of the other fixes and changes are around more mundane items that were no less problematic for the user base. This release fixes some problems with the clipboard, making copy/paste and drag-and-drop tasks perform more reliably. The Direct3D support in Wine 2.0 was also updated, and support for numerous graphics cards was added as well.
For the next release, expected at the start of 2018, the HID driver system will see the completion of its overhaul, which should improve support for mice, joysticks, and other input devices for use with applications running on top of Wine.
Wine was created in 1993 by a fledgling group of Linux developers inspired by a project at Sun Microsystems called Wabi. Wine’s 1.0 release did not arrive until 2008.
