Wine 10.0 uncorks smoother support for running Windows apps on Linux
The Wine team has officially released Wine 10.0, marking a full year of extensive development with over 6,000 changes. This stable release introduces major updates designed to improve performance, compatibility, and visual experience when running Windows applications on Linux (and other non-Windows platforms).
Perhaps the most impressive arrival in Wine 10.0 is the addition of full support for the ARM64EC architecture, now on par with ARM64. This allows developers to build hybrid ARM64X modules that blend ARM64EC and ARM64 code in a single binary. While currently reliant on an experimental LLVM toolchain, the upcoming LLVM 20 release should streamline support. The update also introduces 64-bit x86 emulation, using ARM64EC to allow Wine’s internal processes to run natively, reducing the need for resource-intensive emulation.
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High-DPI scaling also receives a major overhaul, automatically adjusting non-DPI-aware applications for better visuals on high-resolution displays. Users also gain more control with compatibility flags that allow global or per-application customization of scaling behavior.
The graphics stack sees big enhancements, including support for Vulkan child window rendering under X11 and compatibility with Vulkan 1.4.303. Additional improvements include font linking in GdiPlus and better handling of 3D rendering for applications.
Desktop integration has also been improved with the addition of a new display configuration tool that allows users to inspect and modify settings, including virtual desktop resolutions. For Linux users, the Wayland graphics driver is now enabled by default, although X11 still takes precedence unless explicitly disabled. The Wayland driver supports OpenGL and improved popup window placement, making it a welcome addition for modern Linux desktops.
Gamers will appreciate the latest Direct3D updates, which introduce a new fixed-function pipeline for legacy Direct3D versions and dynamic Vulkan extensions aimed at reducing stuttering. Additionally, an experimental FFmpeg backend improves multimedia playback, offering better compatibility for applications that rely on complex media pipelines.
Wine 10.0 also brings updates for input devices, including improved touchscreen support for X11 and new Bluetooth functionality. On the internationalization front, updated Unicode character tables and timezone data promise better compatibility across regions and languages.
This release includes a variety of updates to bundled libraries. FluidSynth, LibPng, and Vkd3d have all been upgraded to their latest versions, while developers will benefit from tools like the Clang Static Analyzer and improved ARM64 support for C++ exceptions.
Wine 10.0 is available as a free download, with source code ready for compilation and binary packages expected soon for various Linux distributions.