osx - Using Wine to open Windows .exe

07
2014-07
  • Sesame

    I apologize for repeating my question, but it was suggested that I ask it on this StackExchange site instead of stackoverflow:

    Original post:

    I have created a simple .NET 4.5 Entity Framework Winforms application with Visual Studio and would like to open it on OS X.

    I have used Wine before to open .exe's in the past and am having difficulty this time around. I have downloaded the most recent version of Wine, as well as OS X.

    When I attempt to open the .exe with Wine, nothing happens. No error messages. Nothing.

    When I attempt to package the .exe with WineBottler, I get a popup that says "Prefix created successfully"; however, when I attempt to open the newly created file, again, nothing happens.

    I am very new to using Wine and have noticed that there are WineTricks you can use, but I am not sure if that is necessary. Again, I used Wine before on a very simple app and it worked just fine without using any WineTricks, but I am not sure whether I should include them for this app.

    I have googled for help, but have not found much. Any assistance is greatly appreciated!

    • Answers
  • Alex35

    First of all, do you have the .NET 4.5 Framework installed in your Wine prefix (bottle)?

    If not, then you need to use a predefined prefix that already has the .NET 4.5 Framework installed, or install it yourself. Just like on Windows, you need to make sure all dependencies are installed for the program to work. For installing predefined prefixes, take a look here.

    If you already have the .NET framework installed in your prefix, then I suggest you try to run your program with wine from the command-line (Terminal.app) to observe any messages that print to stdout or stderr. Hopefully this can give you some clues.

    I think you would enter the following to open your exe from Terminal:

    /Applications/Wine.app/Contents/Resources/bin/wine path/to/your/exe

    For using WineBottler, you might find this tutorial helpful.

    If all else fails, you might want to consider using Mono to run your .NET program. Take a look at this guide.


    • Related Question

    linux - Is there a Wine-like program, but for Windows?
  • Javier Badia

    Sometimes, there's a Linux app that I'd like to run in Windows (XP). Is there something similar to Wine that will do it?


    • Related Answers
  • Chris_K

    It really depends on the app. You can accomplish a lot with Cygwin, for instance. Especially if the app is command line.

    I usually keep a Virtual Machine of Xubuntu (using VirtualBox or VMware) around for just such purposes though. Easier, more features and full compatibility.

    [Edit] You might also have a look at andLinux. Runs a bit more integrated than the VM options.

  • Snark

    coLinux can run Linux along with Windows.

    As they say:

    Cooperative Linux is the first method for optimally running Linux on Windows and other operating systems natively. It is a port of the Linux kernel and support code that allows it to run cooperatively without emulation along with another operating system

  • del-boy

    Checkout cygwin.

  • Matthew

    You could try running a linux distribution as a Virtual Machine.

    One advantage of linux being Free/Open Source Software is that you can run it as a VM without any licensing issues. This isn't quite like wine, but should be even better in terms of compatibility.

  • Martin P. Hellwig

    Try virtual PC: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx If I remember right, the license allows you to use any older windows versions if you have a already a legal license for the 'host' system.

  • hurikhan77

    You could try a gentoo prefix installation in Windows:

    http://blog.jolexa.net/2009/08/31/gentoo-prefixwindows/

    Haven't tried it yet myself but sounds pretty cool and usable.

  • Seasoned Advice (cooking)

    LIMO - very similar tool to coLinux.