Computer stuff- decisions decisions-upgrades
To some this may seem a non issue.
For others it gets taken care of by your PC "mechanic"
But the rest, it's worth at least knowing about options.
The point is, in a general global sense, monopoly does not last it seems,
Migration might be Monopoly's Nemesis ?
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The rise of both Mac OS
X and Linux have begun eating into the monopolistic power of
Microsoft to dictate these cycles.
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White Paper:
Windows Legacy
Application Support
Under Wine
Not Confidential: Distribute Far and Wide Page 2 of 3
Windows Legacy Application Support Under Wine
Overview:With the constant pressure from
Microsoft to migrate to newer versions of
Windows, many users are left with unpalatable
options for running their older applications. Wine
offers a viable, inexpensive alternative for keeping
these legacy applications functioning in perpetuity.
It is a truism that the needs of customers and vendors are often at
cross-purposes. Nowhere has this been more vividly demonstrated
than in the forced upgrade cycles of the Microsoft Windows
platform, which have completely reversed the leverage customers
normally wield over their suppliers. In many cases, end-users have
seen little utility in switching to newer versions of Windows, but
have been left with essentially zero choice in the matter.
Forced OS upgrades have, in turn, forced the migration of many
legacy applications.
These older Windows programs—which
in many cases are still perfectly functional—must either be
redeveloped for a newer Windows platform, or replaced. This
places yet another cost on top of the cost of the OS upgrade.
However, this cycle, which once appeared unbreakable, now
seems to be weakening. For one thing, Windows is no longer as
dominant as it once was on the desktop. The rise of both Mac OS
X and Linux have begun eating into the monopolistic power of
Microsoft to dictate these cycles.
Second is the fact that users now have a realistic alternative
for running their legacy apps.
Utilizing the power of Wine, an
open-source reimplementation of the Win32 OS, in many cases
these legacy applications can be run in perpetuity on alternative
hardware platforms. The remainder of this paper expains how
this is possible, and how companies can harness the power of
Wine to contain their legacy application migration costs.
Wine acts a compatability layer between a Windows application
and the underlying Unix-based operating system. In essence, the
Windows app makes requests to Wine (i.e. “repaint the screen,”
“provide a printer dialog box,” etc.) and Wine instructs the
native Unix OS on how to fulfill these needs. The result is that
Windows applications run as if they are native to the UNIX OS.
Wine offers a viable
alternative for keeping
legacy Windows apps
running in perpetuity.
Windows Legacy Application
Support Under Wine
The MS OS forced-upgrade cycle finally
seems to be weakening.
Not Confidential: Distribute Far and Wide Page 3 of 3
Windows Legacy Application Support Under Wine
As Wine has progressed as a technology, it has accomodated
newer versions of the Win32 API. Thus, support for Windows
3.1 applications was augmented by support for Win95, Win98,
and so on. The beautiful thing about Wine, though, is that there
has never been a pressure on the part of the Wine Project to
intentionally obsolete the older portions of the codebase; quite
the opposite. One of Wine’s inherent virtues is its ability to run
older applications, and this ability continues to be enhanced.
Indeed, Wine in many cases now offers better legacy support
for older Windows applications than newer versions of native
Windows running in “Compatibility Mode.”
CodeWeavers has taken this concept one step further with
the introduction of a technology called “Bottles.” A Bottle is
a portable, self-contained Windows environment. By using
bottles, a user can establish exactly the “flavor” of Windows they
want to run—Win95, WinXP, etc.—and then install Windows
applications into the bottle to be run. This allows Wine users to
establish multiple controlled Windows environments. This can
be very useful for, say, Web developers, who want to see how a
web site might look on IE 6.5 running under both Win2000 and
WinXP. By running bottles, CrossOver users can succesfully
run Windows 3.1 applications in their corporate environments, a
decade after official support for 3.1 was discontinued.
It must be noted, of course, that not all Windows applications
currently run under Wine. In many cases, some work may be
required to get the application to run under Wine. However, the
upside to doing this work is that it’s a one-time cost. Once the
application runs under a given version of Wine, the customer
can continue running the application under that version of Wine
forever, without anybody pressuring them to upgrade to the
latest, greatest version of Wine. The choice of if and when to
upgrade is entirelyin the customer’s hands.
Not only that, but since Wine is open source, the end user retains
the ability to use Wine forever. Wine isn’t controlled by a single
developer; it’s controlled collectively by its licensing structure.
This assures that Wine’s users always retain access to their
codebase. They can modify and enhance Wine at any time, so
long as they return their changes to the Project.
The net result is that end-users now have more options regarding
their legacy applications than ever before. As Microsoft’s hold on
the desktop has weakened, and Wine has matured, end-users can
now realistically contemplate breaking out of the forced upgrade
cycle. CodeWeavers, of course, welcomes the opportunity to
work with anyone looking for assistance in using Wine in this
manner. Please contact .....
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