The StartWine-Launcher 420 application has been released, aimed at facilitating the process of running programs and games designed for Windows on Linux systems. Developed to simplify the creation of Wine prefixes, which are essential for running Windows applications on Linux, the StartWine-Launcher is written in Python and distributed under the GPLv3 license with a user-friendly interface based on the GTK library.
Main changes in this release include integration of authorization and game libraries from GOG.COM and Epic Games Store, addition of the WOW64 subsystem for improved compatibility with 32-bit applications, inclusion of a virtual keyboard for gamepad use, integration of Wine Proton, and the addition of a StartWine uninstaller. Other notable additions are the NTSYNC option for performance enhancement, Wine Wayland driver option for pure Wayland usage, HDR support, and lossless scaling algorithm for frame generation. StartWine RU repository has been added for easier download and installation, offering the function of automatic downloading from the fastest server.
The update also includes several interface improvements such as animations, color scheme options, and a build system from the source code. Some of the code has been rewritten in Rust, and a new parameter in settings allows users to set the period for updating backups. Hotkeys are now grouped by category, and certain configuration files have been moved to the cache directory for preserving user settings after updates.
Moreover, StartWineShell now offers additional features including color schemes, highlighting of executable files, the ability to load Wine when starting a game, and launch GOG and Epic games installed through StartWine. An updated list of Wine, dxvk, and vkd3d versions along with libraries in StartWine runtime, default prefix backup, prefix configurations, locale, winetricks DLL list, and libraries and drivers in container have been implemented in this release.
