need direct x 9.0c

Yes. WINE *IS* the equivelant. WINE takes all the directx and system calls and translates them into native Linux calls.

You may benefit from the wine PPA version:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa; sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get upgrade

Did you check your program on the AppDb to ensure compatibility and/or take extra steps to make it work?? Wine is a best effort attempt and not all apps work well, some will even refuse to install. It is not 100% by any means.

      Also noteworthy: Windows XP will install under Ubuntu if you use VirtualBox. You would then have both. Wine doesn't run everything that used to work in Windows very well, but Windows under VirtualBox seems to. The VirtualBox package is available under Synaptic Package Manager (OSE version), but I recommend you check their site at http://www.virtualbox.org/ and get the full version.
      As far as your original question goes, yes you can download/install DirectX 9.0C under Wine. Took me a while to find it, and I'm out of time right now (my daughter's turn on the computer), but if you want to it will install.

hi, we are new to linux, and sure do appreciate the quick and informative/detailed response - thank you!!

sorry guys, newbie here, still cannot figure out how to luanch world of warcraft, i cannot figure out how to get wine ppa, you know the demo on ubuntu says it's in the menu bar, mine isn't there though, so have been trying to use "add/remove hardware app" alternatively, did a little digging, via internet searches, so thought 'crossing over" was a good bet, downloaded it, but can't luanch either wow or rome - i can't find directx on wine, would really appreciate layman's terms here :)

have linux, no windows xp, so got wine and crossover, no idea how to launch my game cd's with it though.

thought rome was going well,, got an error not finalized though, any feedback to my email would be greatly appreciated, as my wife's watching miss universe tomorrow!

cheers,

dave

<email address hidden>

do get the ppa you need to open a terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal)
and type
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
and enter your password
then
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

then please run wine --version and report back which version you are running

http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=14154

Has some tips.

thanks i'll check, do you think rome would be accessible like this too?

According to this page (http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=15698) Rome should work if you run it from Steam. Others have reported failure with other versions of the game, but it should be manageable to get it to run.

In case you have future questions, formulating the question with your final goal in mind will often provide better feedback (e.g. "How can I run World of Warcraft?") since technologies like DirectX are not always installed or do not always work like you would expect in Windows.