52 Chapter2·ChoosingtheRightSolutionfortheTask operating system application programming interfaces can be quite expansive and complex potentially introducing inconsistencies between the original guest operating system and the emulated interface. Wine The Windows emulator is a software package that allows you to run Windows programs on various Unix platforms. The software emulates the native Windows API and translates those calls into Unix, X Windows, and OpenGL API calls. Using the Wine software, you can run popular Windows programs such as Microsoft Office and Excel as well as games like Counter Strike, EVE Online, and World of Warcraft. Figure 2.2 shows a Linux system running a Microsoft PowerPoint application. Figure 2.2 Linux Running Windows Emulator