Quietly and unobtrusively, FEX 2605 has been released — an open-source emulator and compatibility environment designed for running Linux applications compiled for x86 and x86-64 architectures on ARM64 systems. The project is developing as an alternative to box64 and qemu-user, primarily focused on high performance, game support, and complex user software.
FEX uses dynamic binary translation (JIT) and implements its own model for handling Linux system calls, allowing it to run Steam, Wine, Proton, and a large number of standard x86_64 applications on ARM devices. The project is actively developing in the context of Linux gaming on ARM and is supported by developers from Valve.
In release 2605, the main focus is on improving compatibility and preparing for the emergence of new ARM platforms. Among the changes:
- Improved support for Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite/X2 processors;
- Fixed issues with Wine and Proton;
- Increased stability of multithreaded applications;
- Optimized the performance of the JIT compiler;
- Resolved compatibility issues with several games and DRM components;
- Updated mechanisms for handling AVX and SSE instructions;
- Enhanced integration with Mesa and Vulkan drivers;
- Reduced overhead when switching contexts.
The developers specifically note ongoing work on launching modern gaming projects on ARM laptops running Linux. In recent months, FEX has been increasingly mentioned as one of the key components of the future ARM ecosystem for Linux desktops and gaming devices.
The project is distributed under the MIT License. The source code is published on GitHub.
Source code:
Source: linux.org.ru
