WinBoat Windows for Penguins.
Run Windows apps on 🐧 Linux with ✨ seamless integration
Screenshots
⚠️ Work in Progress ⚠️
WinBoat is currently in beta, so expect to occasionally run into hiccups and bugs. You should be comfortable with some level of troubleshooting if you decide to try it, however we encourage you to give it a shot anyway.
Features
🎨 Elegant Interface : Sleek and intuitive interface that seamlessly integrates Windows into your Linux desktop environment, making it feel like a native experience
: Sleek and intuitive interface that seamlessly integrates Windows into your Linux desktop environment, making it feel like a native experience 📦 Automated Installs : Simple installation process through our interface - pick your preferences & specs and let us handle the rest
: Simple installation process through our interface - pick your preferences & specs and let us handle the rest 🚀 Run Any App : If it runs on Windows, it can run on WinBoat. Enjoy the full range of Windows applications as native OS-level windows in your Linux environment
: If it runs on Windows, it can run on WinBoat. Enjoy the full range of Windows applications as native OS-level windows in your Linux environment 🖥️ Full Windows Desktop : Access the complete Windows desktop experience when you need it, or run individual apps seamlessly integrated into your Linux workflow
: Access the complete Windows desktop experience when you need it, or run individual apps seamlessly integrated into your Linux workflow 📁 Filesystem Integration : Your home directory is mounted in Windows, allowing easy file sharing between the two systems without any hassle
: Your home directory is mounted in Windows, allowing easy file sharing between the two systems without any hassle ✨ And many more: Smartcard passthrough, resource monitoring, and more features being added regularly
Prerequisites
Before running WinBoat, ensure your system meets the following requirements:
RAM : At least 4 GB of RAM
: At least 4 GB of RAM CPU : At least 2 CPU threads
: At least 2 CPU threads Storage : At least 32 GB free space in /var
: At least 32 GB free space in Virtualization : KVM enabled in BIOS/UEFI How to enable virtualization
: KVM enabled in BIOS/UEFI Docker : Required for containerization Installation Guide
: Required for containerization Docker Compose v2 : Required for compatibility with docker-compose.yml files Installation Guide
: Required for compatibility with docker-compose.yml files Docker User Group : Add your user to the docker group Setup Instructions
: Add your user to the group FreeRDP : Required for remote desktop connection (Please make sure you have Version 3.x.x with sound support included) Installation Guide
: Required for remote desktop connection (Please make sure you have with sound support included) Kernel Modules : iptables and iptable_nat modules must be loaded Module loading instructions
: and modules must be loaded
Downloading
You can download the latest Linux builds under the Releases tab. We currently offer two variants:
AppImage: A popular & portable app format which should run fine on most distributions
A popular & portable app format which should run fine on most distributions Unpacked: The raw unpacked files, simply run the executable ( linux-unpacked/winboat )
Known Issues About Container Runtimes
Podman is unsupported for now
for now Docker Desktop is unsupported for now
for now Distros that emulate Docker through a Podman socket are unsupported
Any rootless containerization solution is currently unsupported
Building WinBoat
For building you need to have NodeJS and Go installed on your system
Clone the repo ( git clone https://github.com/TibixDev/WinBoat )
) Install the dependencies ( npm i )
) Build the app and the guest server using npm run build:linux-gs
You can now find the built app under dist with an AppImage and an Unpacked variant
Running WinBoat in development mode
Make sure you meet the prerequisites
Additionally, for development you need to have NodeJS and Go installed on your system
Clone the repo ( git clone https://github.com/TibixDev/WinBoat )
) Install the dependencies ( npm i )
) Build the guest server ( npm run build-guest-server )
) Run the app ( npm run dev )
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Whether it's bug fixes, feature improvements, or documentation updates, we appreciate your help making WinBoat better.
Please note: We maintain a focus on technical contributions only. Pull requests containing political/sexual content, or other sensitive/controversial topics will not be accepted. Let's keep things focused on making great software! 🚀
Feel free to:
Report bugs and issues
Submit feature requests
Contribute code improvements
Help with documentation
Share feedback and suggestions
Check out our issues page to get started, or feel free to open a new issue if you've found something that needs attention.
License
WinBoat is licensed under the MIT license
Inspiration / Alternatives
These past few years some cool projects have surfaced with similar concepts, some of which we've also taken inspirations from.
They're awesome and you should check them out:
WinApps
Cassowary
dockur/windows (🌟 Also used in WinBoat)