Most Windows users prefer IDM as their download manager. However when they switch to Linux, their favourite download manager disappears because it is not available for Ubuntu or any other distribution. But don’t worry here is a way to make IDM for Ubuntu through Wine.
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Every software is written to work on a specific operating system and only that specific operating system can understand the instructions of that software. For example IDM is only available for Windows. Linux OS does not recognize IDM at all.
For Linux, IDM is just a piece of text contained in a package. It does not mean that we cannot run IDM or any other Windows software on Linux. There is an interesting project that allows us to install IDM on Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution.
What Is Wine?
The project is called Wine. It stands for Wine Is Not An Emulator. Yes, the first letter is itself Wine. Well, Wine is one of the most active projects in the open-source world. The new release comes every week or two. It makes the Windows applications run on Linux by converting the application instructions into what Linux understands.
Wine is easy to install, configure, and use. Like any other application on Linux, you can run Windows applications too. Each of Windows’ applications is first transformed into Linux, and then the Linux system understands it and provides the output.
Wine Support Is Still Expanding
I have used many Windows applications on Linux and most of them worked just fine. There may be different hardware that Wine does not support, so one may have problems running Windows applications on Linux if Wine does not support their hardware.
So this was the easiest way that I could make somebody understand Wine and its usage. Now let’s see how we can install IDM on Linux. I’m using Ubuntu for demonstration because most of you would be using either Ubuntu or any derivative distro.
IDM For Ubuntu – How To Install IDM On Linux?
We’ll need first to install Wine before we go ahead and download IDM. Don’t worry. It’s easy to install. Just add the Wine repository, update the local cache, and install it. Now open Ubuntu Software or Synaptic and search for Wine and install it. Now you’re good to go! You should now be able to install IDM or other Windows software on your Ubuntu box.
Download IDM
Download IDM .exe file. You can download it from Filehippo.
Now right click IDM .exe file and open it with Wine.
- Click Next.
- Check “Create an icon for IDM on Desktop”
- Accept the license agreement and click Next.
- You’re all set to install IDM. Click Next.
- And It’s all. Click finish and the installation is done.
Conclusion
Wine is the most active project in the open-source world. With the help of Wine, it’s possible to install Windows applications in Linux. Though some applications are still not supported or buggy, so doesn’t curse Wine for that. Developers are working hard to fix the issues. But for now, enjoy your favorite download manager IDM in Ubuntu.