@Iamgeese :-
As stated above, WINE is NOT an "app" as such. It's essentially a real-time emulation layer, which allows you to run Windows programs under Linux by translating all Windows system-calls to POSIX system calls instead (POSIX is a family of standards that help to maintain interoperability between operating systems within the Unix/Linux family. This is why any application will generally work in the same way across the entire Linux spectrum, within reason).
You don't 'start' WINE by clicking on an executable file. After install, you:-
- First, run 'winecfg' from the terminal. This tells WINE to create an emulated copy of Windows in a hidden directory in your /home/user one. This is where Windows apps will get installed to.
- To run a Windows app, you run the following, again in a terminal:-
-
Code:
wine "/path/to/your/Windows/executable.exe"
The initial 'wine' tells the system to use WINE - if it's present on the system - to run that command. Notice the space between 'wine' and the command.
Once you've established that it works & launches - not all Windows apps will run under all versions of WINE - it's then simple enough to write a wee launch script that will allow you to start it via a single click. As a Windows 'refugee', you will of course be familiar with doing everything via some kind of GUI; the initial use of the terminal is in case any error messages come up. These CAN help to diagnose issues in case your app doesn't run.
To sum up; you 'call' WINE to 'run' the Windows software.
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As I stated above, not all apps will run under WINE. Not yet. The WINE project has been in existence for some 20-odd years at this point in time; with each new release, it gets better & better at running Windows apps.....it's still not perfect, but it's definitely getting there. You must realize, Windows itself is a hugely-complex, constantly-evolving hunk of software, built by people who get paid a salary for what they do. Linux projects, on the other hand, are often built by individuals, in their spare time, pretty much for the love of it......and because you haven't 'paid' anything for the OS, it's pointless complaining, because they don't owe you a dime.....
.....of course, in the case of WINE, it's a sizeable
group of people - rather than just one - doing the work for free in their spare time.
Most of us are usually just grateful when things DO run without problems....! 
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I know for a fact that
constructive criticism is always appreciated by Linux devs. Just moaning because your favourite app won't run doesn't usually cut the mustard, so to speak, especially if like many you don't provide any details for them to work with.
Of course, as also stated above, you will always be better off IF you can find a Linux-native version of your favourite application. This is far more likely to run with minimal tweaking.
Sometimes, though, you don't always have that choice. I run a particular photo-editor I became very handy with under Win XP, dating right back to 2007. This photo-editor ships with a highly-unique feature-set. I CAN get the same functionality under Linux.....but to do so requires running a handful of Linux apps all at the same time. In this particular case, for me it's simply more resource-efficient to run WINE for this one app.....because in the long run, it doesn't consume as many.
I'm lucky in that this app runs 100% perfectly under WINE. Not all do.
Mike.
will give that a try
