For many of us, running Linux as our full-time desktop OS sounds appealing, but there are always those one or two Windows-only programs that we simply can't do without. Sure, you can switch to Windows using a dual-boot system, or run Windows inside virtualization software such as VMware; but that means filling up your hard drive with two separate operating systems, both of which require regular maintenance. Worse, you'll still need to buy a copy of Windows.
Wine is different. It allows you to run Windows software on your Linux desktop as if it were native Linux software. You don't need a virtual machine; in fact, you don't even need a Windows license. The Wine software is so unusual that the first stable version -- Wine 1.0, released today -- was a full 15 years in the making.
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