Winboat Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Winboat is a new way of running Windows apps on Linux. The latest version adds multi-monitor support and more. You can install and run this new app for free on Linux. There are so many options for running Windows apps on Linux. One such option is the new kid on the block, Winboat. As I wrote in my article, This is my new favorite way to run Windows apps on my Linux PC - how it works, Winboat takes a different approach than the other tools, by running an instance of Windows, so the apps work natively. When I first tested Winboat, it was an early iteration and was lacking some features. Well, there's a new release of the app, which packs a lot of new features and the usual bug fixes and polish. Also: I've used Linux for 30 years. Here are 5 reasons why I'll never switch to Windows or MacOS New features include: A custom install path Support for sharing your /home folder Save state, so when you open an app, it's where it was when you closed it Multi-monitor support Support for auto-start containers Disk space warning Improved general workflow noVNC is now included, so it's possible to access WinBoat from a web browser Experimental Dynamic USB pass-through This is a pretty big release, and you can read the full changelog here. There is one small caveat to one of the features listed above, which is mentioned in the changelog when it states: Sharing your home folder exposes your Linux files to Windows-specific malware and viruses. Only enable this feature if you understand the risks involved. Always be careful with the files you download and open in Windows. Because of that warning, you can bet I won't be sharing my home folder with any Windows apps. Also: 6 most Windows-like Linux distros because old habits die hard As for the multi-monitor setup, it remains somewhat buggy, especially if you have two monitors that don't use the same layout (I have one that is horizontal and one that is vertical). With my monitor layout, the cursor becomes unpredictable. Because of that, I cannot use the multi-monitor setup. On the same front, maximized windows can get a bit buggy as well. But again, this is beta software, so issues like this are bound to come up. That's a small price to pay for having such an elegant solution to running Windows apps on Linux. I also found a feature request on the Winboat GitHub page, calling for one-click installation as a Flatpak app. If the developer can pull that off, Winboat could easily become the tool of choice for anyone wanting to run Windows apps on Linux. Even with the bugs, I've found Winboat to show so much promise that this app could make the migration from Windows 10 (or 11, for that matter) a viable option for even more users. Once Winboat is out of beta, I would recommend everyone who needs to run Windows apps on Linux give this a try. You might find you no longer have a need to run Windows as your go-to operating system. One exciting feature that's in the works is the implementation of LookingGlass's indirect display driver. Should that come to fruition, GPU passthrough will be possible, meaning Windows apps (especially games) will run even better. My guess is that this won't happen until either closer to stable release time or soon after. In my early days of using Linux, the only way to run Windows apps on Linux was Wine. That compatibility layer made it possible, but those first attempts were a challenge. It was command-line only and required quite a bit of setup before you could attempt to run an .exe file. In my earliest attempts, I succeeded at running the first "Diablo" game, and it felt like such a huge accomplishment. Thanks to Winboat, no one will ever need to struggle through the command line to get Windows apps up and running on Linux. Also: Linux desktop frozen? My 5 go-to tricks to try - before forcing a hard reboot You can install Winboat 0.8.7 on Linux via .deb, .rpm, or AppImage. Grab the installation file type of your choice from the official download page.