PlayOnLinux or how to play your favorite Windows games on Linux

PlayOnLinux is a tool that allows you to install and run many of the games and applications originally designed for Windows. As we all know, at the moment few popular games designed to run under Linux and, definitely, this is one of the factors that discourages many users from overdoing to Linux. PlayOnLinux brings to the palm of our hand a solution to this problem, without cost of any kind and through the use of free software.

PlayOnLinux main features

• You do not need to have a copy or license of Windows to use PlayOnLinux.
• PlayOnLinux is completely based on Wine, so all its features and benefits are shared, although it keeps the common user well away from any complicated configuration.
• PlayOnLinux is free software
• PlayOnLinux is developed in Bash and Python

It also has some flaws, like all software:

• Occasionally, you will experience slowdowns in performance (the image may be less fluid and the graphics less detailed)
• It does not support ALL games, although it does support a large number of them.

Installation

Fortunately, PlayOnLinux has installers for almost all distros. Those who don't use Ubuntu can find the installation instructions here:

@ http://www.playonlinux.com/es/download.html

Ubuntu users can install the corresponding DEB package or add the PlayOnLinux repositories:

Package: @ http://www.playonlinux.com/script_files/PlayOnLinux/3.7.7/PlayOnLinux_3.7.7.deb

To add the repositories, I opened a terminal and typed the following:

sudo wget http://deb.playonlinux.com/playonlinux_lucid.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install playonlinux

Use

When you start PlayOnLinux for the first time, you will see that the main screen of the program will appear somewhat empty. This happens because most of the space is reserved to list the applications and games that you are installing.

To install an application / game, click the Install button.

The installer dialog will appear. From there you will be able to select the application / game to install, either by browsing the categories on the left or by searching for it through the search engine located at the top of the window.

Once you have located the game / application you want to install, select it and click the button Apply.

The installer of the game. Unless you are installing a patch for a previously installed application, most installers will start with a "presentation." Then, the directory in which PlayOnLinux will save all the files of the program in question will be created.

After this point, several things can happen: the installer can start the discharge of the game, may require the game installation files, may require the Game CD / ISO, etc., depending on what was set in the game installation script. Some examples are included in the screenshots that follow:

At some point, PlayOnLinux will run the application / game's native Windows installer. Something important to keep in mind is that, sometimes, the PlayOnLinux installation scripts need to modify the installation once it has finished, so it is highly recommended to install in the routes that are established by default, and using the configurations that come default. Once the installer completes its work, PlayOnLinux will display a final dialog to determine where to create the shortcuts of the game.

After the installation is complete, you will see the main PlayOnLinux window again and the game / application in question should have been added to the list of available programs. For run the program just installed, just select it and click the button Run. You can also double-click on the program, or run it from the shortcut created by the installer.

Finally, the love with all the games fades and the tragic moment of its uninstall. To do this, select it from the list and click the button Remove. Keep in mind that, although all files and settings saved in the Registry will be completely erased, all program shortcuts may not be erased properly. Anyway ... it will have to be done "by hand".