Wine Doors is a project that aims to make the installation of Windows software on Linux as easy as regular apps are via a package manager. Like any respectable Linux package manager, Wine Doors has a software database and resolves dependencies automatically (at least in theory). After playing around with the latest version of Wine Doors, we have mixed feelings about this program. While it looks stunning, and seems to have some pretty powerful macro based installation technology, it doesn't actually work. Obviously, this realization was the biggest disappointment for us. We used the app to install 3D Mark 2000 and Internet Explorer 6, but neither program would actually run. Some poking around in the console revealed that Wine Doors had failed to resolve a DLL dependency.
Although the program might not be ready for mainstream use yet, we see real promise, and look forward to a 1.0 release.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-10-2008 @ 8:22PM
whiskey said...
Well, so far it's been easier either to stick with Wine and go to wine-review.blogspot.com (where they tell you how to get things installed on Wine)... Or to use CrossOver, PlayonLinux or any other Wine mod (with some better support for some proggies)...
The thing, though, is that i would love to see some more companies doing what Google does with their apps (Google Earth and Picasa). They help Wine development while making their apps available to Linux users. Or even completely porting their apps to Linux (that would be the thing that'd make most steer away from Vista).
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4-11-2008 @ 7:00AM
Dagwood said...
Wine has never worked for me either. Wine, Winedoors, PlayonLinux, all a big tease and a waste of time (for me). The only wine applications I have ever seen run are Picasa and Google Earth. The best part is, Wine is wrapped around these programs and part of their installation. The user never needs to worry about installation or settings, it just works.
Dual booting or Vitualbox are the way to go if you need windows apps.
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4-11-2008 @ 10:07AM
tokyomonster said...
Installing opera through wine-doors worked, trying IE6+Flash now..
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4-12-2008 @ 5:42AM
1dollar said...
For IE try this one:
http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page
4-11-2008 @ 1:02PM
kriscolumbus said...
I've never tried Wine Doors, but I've had success with Wine running Photoshop and Illustrator daily. Sometimes you have to do some tinkering in the settings/registry to get things to work properly.
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4-20-2008 @ 5:37PM
Karl Lattimer said...
Thanks for erm... pointing out that wine-doors 0.1.x has pretty much died...
I'd like to defend myself a little bit here, I've had other important things happen in my life, moving to Finland, working for Nokia, and other pressing matters to attend to, its been a roller coaster ride for me...
I originally started wine-doors as a quick hack, which soon grew into a project of immense proportions and not something one man can take on alone easily. Many people requested features that should be in such a tool, so I started hacking on those too, maybe adding too much for the first release but hell, I like a challenge.
It was a rush to finish the first release and the 0.1 branches/current trunk are pants... The reason for this is mainly architecturally, we were being pulled in too many directions without the man power to bring the streams back into alignment. So 0.1 has been maintained, badly, and wine has been changing around us all the time... Bugs have crept in and a lack of time to develop the formats required has left us in a pretty horrific state.
So 0.2 will be the future, a final maintenance release of wine-doors 0.1 will be put out, but please don't expect too much from me. 0.2 is my focus from now on, and hopefully will prove to be a far more solid base than 0.1...
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4-20-2008 @ 5:38PM
Ian Dumych said...
Thanks for that update, sir. Please don't think I was trying to badmouth your program, I was just telling it like it is. I think it is very well designed, and I look forward to future releases!
4-24-2008 @ 10:40AM
Westhemess said...
heres the thing. if you don't have the patience to do some simple altering of some programs, maybe you should just stick with windows. Linux is by far really easy to use. if you have a problem..... Google is usually pretty good about finding you a site that will guide you step-by-step instructions on how to fix your problem on your distribution.
If you don't like to read. stay away from Linux, its not for you.
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