If you've woken up from the weekend, with a bad hangover, you can take comfort in a good Hangover instead. Users of devices running PowerPC or ARM64 devices, rejoice - your prayers have been answered, as you can now run a range of Windows x86/x64 apps on your machine, thanks to Hangover’s latest Alpha release. For the uninitiated, Hangover is a WINE-based virtualization platform, originally set up to explore ways of creating compatibility between 64-bit ARM-powered devices and their x86-based cousins. Now, thanks to a collaboration with Raptor Computing Systems, it is using the technology to create a similar solution for PowerPC (via Phoronix).

The solution works by running WINE 64-bit on the host, coupled with an especially adapted QEMU instance, and a whole bunch of “thunk” libraries to stitch it all together. The result is a virtualized version of your favorite Windows apps - though that promise comes with a massive caveat.

Although progress is still ongoing, there’s a surprising amount it can already do, even basic 3D rendering and Direct3D if you have OpenGL installed. However, if you need something that you can rely on for every Windows app you throw at it, this really isn’t for you. It may be one day, but this, by the developers’ own admission, is a very Alpha-y Alpha and isn't ready to be relied on as an alternative to a Windows-native PC yet. Hangover now allows Windows x86/x64 apps to run on ARM 64, PPC64LE, x86_64 - but all very much ‘in theory’ - your results may differ. Users may note that Android support has been removed in this build. That may come as a disappointment, but it hasn’t worked properly for a while and it seems the developers have decided to disable it for the present and the foreseeable future.

For more information, and to download the Hangover Alpha, click this link to be taken to the GitHub repository.