We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Windows compatibility layer Wine 6.21 is out now

By - | Views: 16,547

More fixes and new features are ready for another development release with Wine 6.21 going out, the compatibility layer for Windows games and applications. It's part of what makes up Steam Play Proton, where once a year or so a new stable release is made.

Here's the release highlights for Wine 6.21:

  • WinSpool, GPhoto, and a few other modules converted to PE.
  • Better support for inline functions in DbgHelp.
  • Beginnings of a MSDASQL implementation.

As we explained previously: the continued conversion of various modules to PE is another change that will gradually increase compatibility in many ways over time for certain expected behaviour needed by Windows applications. Previously Wine has built its Win32 libraries (like DLLs and EXEs) as ELF but for many reasons (like better compatibility) they've started to move them over to use PE instead.

For bugs reported as fixed as of this release they noted 26 including issues solved for: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Sniper Elite series, Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster, Homesick, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, Resident Evil 6, Skyrim SE, various Unreal Engine 4 games, Resident Evil 4 HD and much more.

In related news, their own World Wine News has been rebooted where one of their team gives an overview of the Wine world. Cressida Silver is their new writer, working for Wine sponsor CodeWeavers. The most recent release went up just after Wine 6.20 - hopefully another will come soon with more highlights.

Also, want to know what it's like to work on Wine? Another new developer from CodeWeavers recently wrote up a blog post going over their work and it's a pretty fun read that doesn't get overly technical and confusing.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Misc, Open Source, Wine | Apps: Wine
23 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
5 comments

Hooly Nov 6, 2021
View PC info
  • Supporter
6.21...

Are there any infos regarding the next major version jump (Wine 7)?
lectrode Nov 6, 2021
Quoting: Hooly6.21...
Are there any infos regarding the next major version jump (Wine 7)?


Per the wine user guide:

QuoteThe stable branch is on an annual release schedule, with minor updates as needed (usually every 10-12 weeks)

Stable versions are 6.0, 7.0, etc, while development releases are 6.1, 6.21, etc

Wine 6.0 was released in January of 2021. It stands to reason that 7.0 will be released in this upcoming January.

FYI: the stable release won't have anything currently not in the development releases. As long as you are on the latest development release, you have all the latest functionality and compatibility.


Last edited by lectrode on 6 November 2021 at 10:47 pm UTC
damarrin Nov 7, 2021
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Yeah, a bigger major version number means practically nothing. It gets superseded by a minor release right away and is no longer the one to use.
Jozua Nov 9, 2021
That blog post by Giovanni over at CodeWeavers was actually quite an interesting read! Seems quite fun actually (although I wish I had better knowledge of how devices work)!
Worth a read! I totally recommend! Also interesting to see their process for patching stuff.

What's the main difference between PE and ELF? Why this shift to PE?
Hooly Nov 9, 2021
View PC info
  • Supporter
Quoting: JozuaWhat's the main difference between PE and ELF? Why this shift to PE?
There are some cases where Windows applications expect certain components to be in a certain format, and PE is closer to what Windows has than ELF.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.