Running Windows games under Linux is certainly possible, although there are details of compatibility and performance. Wine has done very well so far, but its effectiveness is far from perfect, especially if you throw three-dimensional graphics into the equation. Speaking of native support for Linux in some games is almost like a science fiction movie. Enough work for developers to put pressure on hardware manufacturers to create drivers, and when they do, often rely on closed source. And as if that were not enough, we also have DirectX, eternal ruler of all multimedia tasks carried out under the Windows platform. A Microsoft has not shaken the pulse of DirectX discriminate in their own operating systems (Windows XP does not support DX10), therefore, one should not expect any kind of voluntary support to bring DirectX to Linux.

However, that does not mean that the Linux community is left idle. Gallium3D is a software library that works as a layer between the API and the operating system, aiming to facilitate driver development. Originally under Tungsten Graphics, Gallium3D is now developed by VMWare , and use even extends to open source nouveau driver for Nvidia hardware. The big news is the latest implementation of Gallium3D, as has support for Direct3D 10 and 11. Gallium3D The main objective was to provide support for multiple APIs with minimal effort, and certainly this new place it on the right track. The grand prize, no doubt, will come when you can run Windows games with Direct3D 10 and 11 through Wine.

Currently, Wine has a very limited DX10 support, but this new version of Gallium3D change things dramatically. According to the official announcement of the achievement is due to “excellent design Direct3D” and “similarity” with Gallium3D and not expected to have complications in terms of performance. In fact, it is believed that a sufficiently developed Direct3D implementation could even outperform and stability to its equivalent in OpenGL. Last February it was learned that VMware was working on a similar implementation, but closed source. However, this version of Gallium3D and can even run a few shows based on Direct3D 10 and 11. In other words, with this level of support, Wine and must not “translate” Direct3D to OpenGL calls, once it has been implemented. This version of Gallium3D Wine libraries do not have yet, but adding them would be “very easy” according to the announcement. Everywhere you look, good news.