How to install Wine on Mac OS X 10.6.2 (Snow Leopard)

#1 03-11-2010, 08:25 AM

Wine lets you run Windows software on other operating systems like Linux and Mac OS. With Wine, you can install and run these applications just like you would in Windows.

You can have Windows and Mac OS installed on the same computer. Boot Camp allows you to switch between them on a Mac computer. And if you use Hackintosh, you can have Windows, Mac OS and Linux installed without bootcamp (note that you Apple doesn't allow to install Mac OS onto PC even if you purchase a license for it). The only problem that you need to reboot to use another OS.

You can also use virtual machines like Parallels Desktop for Mac OS or freeware Virtual Box to run Windows software from your Mac OS. Virtual Machines are usually slow unless you have an ultra fast computer. Besides you need to purchase a Windows license which is not cheap.

Wine is different. Currenly Wine is far away from ideal and many Windows programs can't be run using it. But Wine has some advantages:
- Running Windows applications with Wine is fast
- Wine doesn't t require you to buy a Windows license
- Wine is 100% free and open source

How to install Wine onto Mac OS X 10.6.2 (Snow Leopard)
Wine on OS X binary packages are not officially provided by the Wine project. As such, packages you find on the net may be out of sync with the latest version shipped by Wine. If this is the case, it is better to build Wine from scratch. This requires to install XCode from Apple, the development package for MacOS X shipped (but not pre-installed) with your Mac.

Xcode can be installed from Mac OS DVD. It can also be downloaded from Apple web-site ( http://developer.apple.com/technologies/xcode.html - free registration required )

It is recommended you install the latest version of XQuartz (the X11 server for OSX).

How to install Wine onto Mac OS X. Method One: Prebuilt Binary
There are no official prebuilt Wine packages for Mac. Darwine is not Wine, please don't use use it.

In the meantime you can try WineBottler. It offers prebuilt diskimage (.dmg) for Mac that also works on Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6). Note that this package is not supported by WineHQ, but it is the fastest and the easiest way to install Wine. You only need to dowload a .dmg package and install it.
How to install Wine onto Mac OS X. Method Two: MacPorts/Fink

Neither MacPorts nor Fink provide binary repositories for their archives. Thus installing is like building Wine from scratch, using the respective package management tool.

MacPorts provides an easy way to compile and install Wine.

To install Macports, you can download a "dmg" disk image for Snow Leopard, Leopard and Tiger, containing pkg installer for use with the Mac OS X Installer. It is the simplest installation method.
Just run the system's Installer by double-clicking on the pkg, then follow the on-screen instructions until completion. You may need to open a new shell for these changes to take effect.

Note that to install Mac Ports you will need Apple's Xcode Developer Tools and The X11 windowing environment.

Then open the Terminal.

To see what version of Wine is currently supported for MacPorts use the search command:
Code:
```
$ port search wine
wine @1.0.1 (x11)
    Wine Is Not an Emulator
wine-crossover-games @8.1.0. (x11)
    Wine Is Not an Emulator (1.1.25 with CodeWeavers modifications)
wine-devel @1.1.40 (x11)
    Wine Is Not an Emulator
winetricks @20100201 (x11)
    downloads and installs various redistributable runtime libraries
Found 4 ports.
```
wine 1.0.1 is a stable release.
wine-devel 1.1.40 is a development release.

To install Wine using Macports, run the following in the Terminal:
Code:
```
sudo port install wine
sudo port install winetricks
```
If you prefer to use the development release, run the following instead:
Code:
```
sudo port install wine-devil
sudo port install winetricks
```
Alternatively you can use Fink which is similar to MacPorts, just that its packaging system is based on Debian's dpkg and apt.
Code:
```
$ fink list wine
     wine                  1.1.13-100       Microsoft Windows compatibility layer
     wine-dev              1.1.13-100       Microsoft Windows compatibility layer
     winetricks            20090106-1       Install redistributable runtime tools in Wine
```
How to install Wine onto Mac OS X. Method Three: Do It Yourself

As neither MacPorts nor Fink provide binary repositories, "installing" is similar to building Wine: in any case, all of Wine need be compiled.