The open-source Wine project, known for allowing Windows applications to run on other operating systems like Linux and macOS, has made significant strides with its recent stable release of version 10.0. This version introduces support for ARM64EC, the application binary interface for ARM apps on Windows 11, and includes over 6,000 changes made through a year of development.
ARM64EC permits developers to combine ARM and x86 code, allowing Windows apps to utilize x86-based plugins even in ARM-native applications. Alongside, Wine 10.0 also accommodates ARM64X, enabling a hybrid of ARM64EC code and older ARM64 applications.
However, this new support does come with limitations. It requires a 4K system page size, a stipulation stemming from Windows ABI requirements. Many popular ARM Linux distributions, such as Asahi Linux and certain versions of the Raspberry Pi OS, default to a 16K page size for performance advantages, thus limiting the immediate utility of ARM64EC in Wine for some users. Nevertheless, the groundwork laid in this release could lead to more robust performance in the future.
Additional enhancements in Wine 10.0 include better high-DPI support, improvements to Direct3D features, and optimizations in the Vulkan renderer aimed at reducing stuttering during gameplay.
The ARM computing space has gained traction recently, particularly following Qualcomm’s release of the Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus processors, which have shown competitive performance against Intel, AMD, and Apple’s chips. Microsoft has integrated these ARM processors into mainstream products like the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, supported by updates to Windows 11 that enhance performance for ARM devices.
An increasing number of major apps have begun releasing native versions for Windows on ARM, including browsers and creative software, which motivated Wine to prioritize ARM64EC support. This shift signals a growing relevance and maturation of the Windows-on-ARM app ecosystem, promising exciting times ahead for compatibility across platforms.
For more details on Wine, visit the Wine HQ and for further updates on Windows ARM support, see Microsoft’s updates on Windows.
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