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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Wine 9.0, announced on January 16, 2024, introduced a new WoW64 architecture and an experimental Wayland graphics driver. WoW64 made it possible to run 32-bit Windows applications on a purely 64-bit Unix installation, while Wayland added an in-progress option for displaying Wine windows on Wayland desktops. Both features had important release-time limitations, and neither was enabled by default.
What changed in Wine 9.0?
Wine is a compatibility layer that lets Unix-like systems run Windows software. The Wine team described 9.0 as the result of a year of development and more than 7,000 individual changes. That number counts development changes; it is not a compatibility rate, performance measurement, or promise that a particular application will work. The team named the new WoW64 architecture and experimental Wayland driver as the release’s main highlights in its Wine 9.0 announcement.
Wine 9.0 is a historical release, not a claim about the latest Wine version available today. Its significance lies chiefly in changes to how Wine supports 32-bit Windows programs on 64-bit Unix systems and how it can integrate with Wayland desktops.
What is WoW64 mode, and can it run 32-bit Windows apps on 64-bit Linux?
Yes, Wine 9.0’s new WoW64 mode made that configuration possible: 32-bit Windows applications could run on a purely 64-bit Unix installation. This also mattered for recent macOS versions that had removed support for 32-bit Unix processes. The architectural capability does not guarantee that every 32-bit Windows app runs correctly.
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In the new design, transitions from Windows code to Unix code go through the NT syscall interface. WoW64 thunks let 32-bit Windows PE code call 64-bit Unix libraries, rather than requiring the Windows code to run inside a 32-bit Unix process. The Wine 9.0 release notes describe this as a milestone in a longer effort to convert Wine modules to PE format and establish a clearer boundary between Windows and Unix code.
Release-time caveats
- The new WoW64 mode was not enabled by default in Wine 9.0. The release announcement gives the configure-time option
--enable-archs=i386,x86_64for enabling those architectures. - 16-bit code was not supported in this mode.
- OpenGL performance was reduced, and support for the
ARB_buffer_storageextension was absent.
These are limitations stated for Wine 9.0’s new mode; they should not be read as a general statement about every Wine configuration or later release.
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Does Wine 9.0 support Wayland?
Wine 9.0 added an experimental Wayland driver, described by the Wine team as work in progress. It offered basic window management, multiple-monitor support, high-DPI scaling, relative motion events, and Vulkan support. The driver was not enabled by default in 9.0, so its presence did not mean that Wayland was a finished or default desktop path.
The release announcement’s setup procedure changes the Wine graphics-driver registry value to x11,wayland and unsets the DISPLAY environment variable. Those are release-time instructions; consult current Wine documentation before using them with a newer version.
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How do WoW64 and the Wayland driver differ?
| Feature | Purpose | Wine 9.0 status | Practical scope and limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| WoW64 architecture | Lets 32-bit Windows PE code call 64-bit Unix libraries. | New mode; not enabled by default. | Enables a 32-bit Windows application on a purely 64-bit Unix installation. 16-bit code was unsupported; OpenGL performance was reduced and ARB_buffer_storage support was absent. |
| Wayland graphics driver | Provides a display driver for Wayland desktops. | Experimental, work in progress, and not enabled by default. | Included basic window management, multiple monitors, high-DPI scaling, relative motion events, and Vulkan support; it was not presented as a finished desktop path. |
The two changes address different problems: WoW64 changes how Windows and Unix code interact, while the Wayland driver concerns display and input integration. The announcement provides no benchmark figures for comparing their performance.
What other Wine 9.0 enhancements mattered?
The release notes also describe updates across graphics, ARM64 support, input, media, and desktop integration. These are targeted implementation improvements, not evidence that all Windows programs became compatible.
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Graphics and Vulkan
- Vulkan driver support was updated through specification version 1.3.272.
- WineD3D and Vulkan backend optimizations were included, along with checks that the underlying Vulkan device supports features used by the renderer.
- GDI+ received optimizations, and Direct3D 10 effects support was extended to more instructions.
ARM64 and emulation support
Wine 9.0 added ARM64 binaries and ARM64X/ARM64EC loader support, implemented a 32-bit x86 emulation interface, and introduced experimental ARM64EC build support. The release notes specify that Wine did not bundle an emulation library with that interface.
Input, media, and desktop integration
- DirectInput action maps were added for older games, and DirectMusic and MIDI playback received additions.
- Work on Windows Media Video and MPEG-1 decoders and filters was included.
- IME behavior was improved, and Linux desktop URL/URI handler integration was added.
- New Wine prefixes defaulted to Windows 10.
What Wine 9.0 does—and does not—promise
Wine 9.0 expanded compatibility infrastructure and added specific capabilities, particularly the new WoW64 mode. The release announcement does not give an overall application success percentage, adoption statistic, or benchmark. Whether an individual Windows program works depends on that program and the Wine configuration; the release highlights alone cannot establish compatibility or performance for a particular app or game.
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