Wine Reviews

Google SketchUp in Linux with Wine

Google SketchUp is one of my favorite applications. Its a free 3D software that I use to create my fabulous 3D models. It works well and lets my imagination and fingers do their magic. Its an excellent therapy for mind and soul. Theres only one problem, so to speak. It has been designed to work on Windows and Mac only, with no Linux version in the offing.

All in all, its not a tragedy, since I believe in using any software and/or operating system that meets the requirements. If you need to draw a bit, you power Windows and do what needs to be done. But some people may not have the privilege to make the cross-platform choice. For them, Google SketchUp is on the wish-list. Or is it?

Well, it turns out you can have Google SketchUp in Linux. It requires Wine. Overall, the installation is very simple and you will get a decent experience. It wont be a perfect one, mind you, but its a great beginning. There's hope.
Lets see how we can do this.

Install Google SketchUp, two easy steps

Step 1: Install a few missing utilities

I have shown you not long ago how to use winetricks to easily obtain missing programs and libraries required by some of the Windows programs installed using Wine. Winetricks is a very smart wrapper script that will facilitate the installation of extra components, letting you focus on getting your desired application to run.

Now, to get Google SketchUp to run, you will need some fonts and Visual Basic libraries.

winetricks corefonts vcrun6 vcrun2005

Step 2: Install Google SketchUp

wine

And just follow the wizard:

Run Google SketchUp - Have fun!

Now, time to power up the program and enjoy! And here we go, a spectacular gallery of Google SketchUp on Linux, with a handful of my breathtaking models posing for you, including some that have yet to be unveiled sometime in the future. You're having an exclusive preview of an artist's work even before it's finished, a sin in some places.

Some of the models were designed in the older version of the program (v5 beta), but there were no problems opening and playing with them.

Run Microsoft Windows Applications and Games on Mac, Linux or ChromeOS save up to 20% off CodeWeavers CrossOver+ today.

Winamp for Mac OS X

Well since Nullsoft does not provide any support for other then Microsoft Windows OS it could be tricky somehow to get it running on another OS like Mac OS X or even another *nix system…but it is not impossible. The thing you need is Wine to get it running on your *nix system or if you own a Mac like me you can use your copy of Crossover as well. I must say the last option will work the best if you want to use this kind of app….

This time we are going to use Crossover Mac 9.0.1 Standard/Professional in order to run Winamp 5.57 on Mac OS 10.6.4. In advance I must say that this version of Crossover does not support Winamp by default and neither does any previous versions of it. But you might ask…is it possible anyway…? I must say yes…! To my surprise the installation went smooth without any bugs and after the installation the program does work very well or at least for everyday use. Although I have came into the problem when you drag the window around it may feel kinda laggy when doing so. But otherwise it works well for most of your tasks with Winamp.

As you can see from the picture above it even runs with the new theme style in Winamp but for better compatibility I suggest to use the old Winamp skin for faster response and use of the program.

To setup your Bottle in Crossover you only need to use a WinXP environment and continue with the installation. Winamp does not need any other runtime components to run and after installation you can use it like you did on your Windows PC.

Putty for Mac

$15.00

World of Warcraft The Burning Crusade Cinematic Intro

Thanks to Cider, Mac users can run windows applications and games without running a virtual OS. Now that I think about it… I'm not sure if this COD4 was actually made for mac or if it was a port running through cider. This works for many other things as well. Codeweavers CrossOver also does the same type of thing using wine instead of cider. Somewhere on their site they have a compatibility list. I successfully use CrossOver to run Steam games like DOD:S and other stuff. With virtualization through Parallels or VMWare Fusion, you still need a copy of the windows OS. With wine, you dont. Long Live Mac! The ONLY reason I ever used windows was because I wanted to play games.

Name: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Release
Date: January 16, 2007
Platform(s): PC and Mac OS X
Publisher: Activision Blizzard
Developer: Activision Blizzard