Trying to run Windows apps on Linux with Wine: Office, Photoshop, Affinity Designer, Autocad

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Timecodes:
00:00 Intro
00:58 Sponsor: SquareSpace
02:02 Microsoft Office 365
06:46 Adobe Photoshop
09:05 Affinity Designer
10:45 Autocad
12:13 Crossover
13:51 Final Thoughts
17:24 Sponsor: Tuxedo Computers
18:22 Support the channel

#linux #windowsapps #linuxdesktop #windows #technews

I tried a few methods for Office. First, I went with Bottles, but it is a flatpak app, and as such is sandboxed, and doesn't have access to some system libraries, including Winbind.

I then moved on to the latest stable version of Wine, version 9.0. I followed a nice tutorial that felt like it could work, I left a link to it in the description.

But, after about 20 minutes, I got this error, which, looking at it online, seems to affect Windows users too, except I don't have the tools on Linux to fix the error, since it seems to require the windows control panel to fix.

Last thing I tried: installing Office 365 inside a Windows VM, and copying the files over. As expected, pasting all the Office related files in the respective directories in Wine's virtual C Drive didn't do anything, even after adding the few regedit changes mentioned by the online tutorial I found.

Next was Adobe Photoshop. I tried using the PlayOnLinux built-in script, just to see, but it failed immediately, because it couldn't download the file.

I then decided to create a wine prefix to try and install it using basic Wine Stable. Nothing here, the installer never actually displays any window that I could interact with, it's stuck, and the terminal doesn't show any specific error or missing DLL I could try to fix.
Time to install things inside of a Windows VM, and to try copying the files over, because I've been told this can work.

I copied all the directories, and I tried running the photoshop executable from Bottles, and... it didn't work either. DLLs are missing from the install, for some reason or another, and can't be found.

Now, let's move on to Affinity Software, something a lot of people would love to see on Linux. I tried to run that installer with Wine inside of Bottles, but it fails immediately, apparently something like not having an icon in the installer, a required field not being there or something along those lines.
Trying to run it with Wine gives the same error, and also doesn't work.

Finally, I decided to give a shot to Autocad, another program often cited as a big missing piece for Linux. Trying to run the installer with Bottles failed immediately, a bunch of DLLS are apparently missing from the default Wine install.
app under Linux**

Now, I'm sure someone will mention here that I haven't tried Crossover, the paid tool made by Codeweavers, the biggest contributor to Wine. And that's why I'll mention them here: in their compatibility database, none of these programs are listed as supported either. The only one that could work is Photoshop CC 2019, that has a rating of 3 stars, which means "limited Functionality".

Neither Office 365, the latest Photoshop CC, Autocad 2020, or Affinity Designer or Photo work under Crossover either, and if it there was a single way, even ultra convoluted, to get these working, you know the developers of the PAID option would have built a script to make all the necessary changes, and they'd have advertised it heavily.

[VirtualizerExtreme]

Reminder to cancel that Creative Cloud free trial

saving you a few hundred dollars

[necuz]

The reason games works so well through wine is that game engines typically are made to be as separated from the OS as possible, since porting them to many different platforms is so common. Big professional Windows software is generally very deeply integrated into OS components with no thought given to making such porting easier.

[starman]

Ironically I think Windows power users that are more technically advanced have a harder time switching to Linux because they use niche software. For normal users that use their OS as a bootstrapper for their browser, I doubt they'd notice a different if you riced KDE Plasma to look like Windows. Getting professional software supported on Linux is a must for mass adoption.

[pilot]

Running Windows in VirtualBox is much easier for office type applications than fighting with Wine/Bottles.

[AcordHachi]

An interview with crossover would be interesting

[ymi_yugy]

I think the reason why games work so much better isn't just Valve, but also that the API surface is so much smaller. All games need from the operating system is some basic windowing that has been more or less unchanged for decades, some input and directX. All these things have been around for a long time are very stable and have close linux equivalents, so API translation is pretty easy. Desktop applications are a whole different beast. They often use tons of obscure Windows APIs that often don't have good linux equivalents.

[sharkuel]

I have the Affinity suite running on Linux, Photoshop CC 2021, Cakewalk Sonar, etc. There is a youtuber named Mattscreative that actually has tutorials to run these apps like they were native.

[Butterscotch_]

I remember having a totally legally obtained version of Photoshop 2021 with Wine. It’s funny how the official one doesn’t work but the cracked version does.

[Kiaulen]

> Wine is not the answer

You're my favorite Frenchman, how could you say that?!? 😂

[llothar]

As a programmer i can tell you that it is very easy to write programs that are not portable on wine.
There are so many modern APIs that are not supported. And it is a non winnable race. Games are pretty easy compared to business apps because the first have almost all the complicated inside while business apps live on communication with the outside.

[alexanderdelguidice]

Some windows programs require the registry changes their installers make to run. If you are installing a program inside of a virtual machine and then copying the files to wine, try using a tool like Regshot to see what the installer changes (it needs to be run before installing the program) and copy those changes to wine's registry.

[mehdimido]

we need to push for more native linux apps especially for major professional apps

[TheGuilha]

Mattscreative has good guides on photoshop and affinity designer installation on linux.

[Xeno_Bardock]

Try converting windows app to portable version in virtualbox before running on Linux with wine, might have a higher chance of working that way. Also windows apps that work in wine should become available as flatpak package for convenience.

[ThatGamePerson]

There is a LONG convoluted guide for Affinity in their forum but it seems super annoying and I've not gone to the trouble yet to try it. Just been using it in VM for now.

[rosyidharyadi]

I've wasted painful time in the past trying to run newest AutoCAD on linux without success. BricsCAD came to rescue as it was compatible with autocad file format.

[zerokun]

It's not a matter of developer interest, it's just that games really just need a window, input, sound and sometimes file access. That's easy. Other than that games use graphics api which exist on all Oses and can be translated if needed (take DirectX ti vulkan with proton)

All the most popular apps that aren't games are utility apps that probably use a ton of system dependencies like icons, components and other very specific features.
Those are much harder to "emulate" (I know, wine is not an emulator, it's in the name! But you get the idea)

[MdMozammelHossain]

I think we should make a fund to contribute to a team to just make wine capable enough to run just 10 top used Windows app, and I'm sure the Linux market share will grow in double-digit.

[Kiyuja]

Wine and Proton are absolutely critical to have ANY chance of getting casuals into the Linux ecosystem, If they see things they wish to download and run, it should "just work"..just like they are used to. Even setting up these translation layers will be too much for many people but they have to work, period. Hopefully Wine will see further breakthroughs in the coming years.

[arahman]

The thing about Linux gaming IMO is that games generally don't throw in as many OS hooks as Apps like Office/Photoshop, so there's less things to be adjusted.