Wine makes it possible to run Windows programs alongside any Unix-like operating system, particularly Linux. At its heart, Wine is an implementation of the Windows Application Programing Interface (API) library, acting as a bridge between the Windows program and Linux. Think of Wine as a compatibility layer, when a Windows program tries to perform a function that Linux doesn’t normally understand, Wine will translate that program’s instruction into one supported by the system. For example, if a program asks the system to create a Windows pushbutton or text-edit field, Wine will convert that instruction into its Linux equivalent in the form of a command to the window manager using the standard X11 protocol.
If you have access to the Windows program’s source code, Wine can also be used to recompile a program into a format that Linux can understand more easily. Wine is still needed to launch the program in its recompiled form, however there are many advantages to compiling a Windows program natively within Linux. [source]
Features
Throughout the course of its development, Wine has continually grown in the features it carries and the programs it can run. A partial list of these features follows:
• Support for running Win64, Win32 (Win 95/98, NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7), Win16 (Win 3.1) and DOS programs
• Optional use of external vendor DLL files (such as those included with Windows)
• X11-based graphics display, allowing remote display to any X terminal, as well as a text mode console
• Desktop-in-a-box or mixable windows
• DirectX support for games
• Good support for various sound drivers including OSS and ALSA
• Support for alternative input devices such as graphics tablets.
• Printing: PostScript interface driver (psdrv) to standard Unix PostScript print services
• Modem, serial device support
• Winsock TCP/IP networking support
• ASPI interface (SCSI) support for scanners, CD writers, and other devices
• Advanced unicode and foreign language support
• Full-featured Wine debugger and configurable trace logging messages for easier troubleshooting
