In particular, as of 2010[update] Microsoft Windows is the dominant family of operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers, and many devices are supplied with drivers for Windows but not other operating systems.
Several open-source software projects allow using Microsoft Windows drivers under another operating system, such as Linux.
The common thread among these examples is the use of wrapper technology, which allows execution of the drivers in a foreign environment.
Limitations for driver wrappers include inability to function at real time.
An example of this limitation includes latency problems as those associated with attempts to make compatible with Linux the ZoomR16 audio DAW sound recorder and control surface.