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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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For some reason I read it as WinBloat at first. Cool none the less, will make it easier to make my friends transition.
The developer explains it should run basically everything unless "it requires strong GPU acceleration or kernel-level anticheat".
That is a lot of use cases people have for Windows only applications.
I imagine this is more for productivity apps, where gamers are going to use proton or wine.
Isn't wine meant for non-gaming apps too?
It is, but most modern software doesn't work at all in Wine. I have 2 apps (Paint.net, and SketchUp Make 2017) which don't have any real alternatives (or they suck) for Linux and they don't work in Wine.
On my Linux Mint laptop Winboat installed quickly and allowed me to install and run the one program I use that requires Windows. This biggest issues were with that same app's windows when they were rendered on the Linux desktop. They sometimes couldn't be moved, resized or closed, however the same app ran just fine on the Winboat Windows Desktop itself.
The latest version is identified as an alpha release on the UI, so these problems aren't surprising. What is surprising is how well so much of this works for an alpha release, particularly how polished the installation process is.
Looking forward to using Winboat when it progresses to the beta.
Didn't we already have this same thing with a different name? https://github.com/winapps-org/winapps
From their FAQ
With WinApps you do the bulk of the setup manually, and there's no cohesive interface to bring it all together. There's a basic TUI, a taskbar widget, and some CLI commands for you to play with.
WinBoat does all the setup once you have the pre-requisites installed, displays everything worth seeing in a neat interface for you, and acts like a complete experience. No need to mess with configuration files, no need to memorize a dozen CLI commands, it just works.
I've tried both. WinBoat is on a whole different level of easy. You just download it, click next about 3 times and you have a working Windows VM providing Windows apps that run alongside your native linux apps.
It doesn't get any easier than this.
Hey, I made that. Fun 😆
I wonder how well this runs AutoCad and adobe
Instead of running compatibility layers, it runs a real copy of Windows using Docker and KVM under the hood.
I take it that it requires a Windows license then, I'll stick with wine.
I'd imagine a pirate's license will work too.
True, they did call it a boat after all.
I'm assuming it's using the dockur/windows image* the same as WinApps, which seems to be pre-registered ime.
dockur uses the generic keys, f.e. VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T for Windows 11.
https://gist.github.com/rvrsh3ll/0810c6ed60e44cf7932e4fbae25880df
You can always just not activate windows. Nothing is stopping you from using it that way.
How it is different from WinApps?
From their FAQ
With WinApps you do the bulk of the setup manually, and there's no cohesive interface to bring it all together. There's a basic TUI, a taskbar widget, and some CLI commands for you to play with.
WinBoat does all the setup once you have the pre-requisites installed, displays everything worth seeing in a neat interface for you, and acts like a complete experience. No need to mess with configuration files, no need to memorize a dozen CLI commands, it just works.
But if it isn't dependant on the command line is it really Linux?
(This is an awesome project, thanks for sharing)
Listen, I only need to know one thing: can it run Paint.\NET?
Because pretty much all my needs are met but
(inb4 anyone says anything: Krita = painting not editing; GIMP = sucks balls; PhotoGIMP = sucks less balls; Pinta sucks balls ever since they switched to GTK4; and pretty much all other options are MS Paint equivalents so also all suck balls.)
Can I ask you what "sucks" about GIMP?
Okay, so, please forgive me ahead of time for the following rant. To be blunt, you did ask. 😛
Select > Select None maybe? Anyway, I've had it happen where the option doesn't even do anything.) It completely throws my whole game off and I've never once, even once had it happen until I started using GIMP.+, -, and Shift+Ctrl+E, respectively; while most other programs have it as ctrl++; (and/or ctrl+=), ctrl+- (and/or ctrl+NumpadMinus), and ctrl+0 (and/or ctrl+NumpadEnter). Also, you cannot use tab or ctrl+tab to move to the next or previous tab, respectively, because tab is a excluded key for keyboard shortcuts. (I think I was once told it has to do with a limitation in GTK, but that's ridiculous as Pinta has been able to do it for years.) There are countless other inane defaults for the keyboard shortcuts as well, frankly.LMB or RMB to switch between the primary and secondary colors selected. You have to use X.These are only a few of the most severe frustrations, annoyances, and hair-pulling-out moments for me with regards to GIMP. I'd never have even tried it out if Pinta hadn't made the ass-backwards decision to move to the stupidly minimalistic and less functional GTK4 adwaita UI and if Paint.\NET worked. (I can't remember why it doesn't wanna work; I think it has to do with a dependency. I know it's not the .NET framework since that could be handled by Mono IIRC.)
Hey valid complaints. As someone not in the need for professional editing tools i felt I'd be better to ask than to assume! Thank you for sharing
It's no trouble! I'm happy to explain! ^_^
90% of the complaints I've heard about GIMP are just because its UI and workflow are different from whatever tool they're used to. I like GIMP just fine because I learned on it. I don't even like using Krita because I feel like it's 50% gimp with a skin lol
I'm with you. I love paint.net. For me it's not even necessarily the feature set, but the fact that it starts up instantly unlike others. Most of the time I'm using it to make a quick meme and having to wait for something like GIMP to open makes me feel like it's not worth making.
ehh, tried using it . . . and a
failed to create network winboat_default: Error response from daemon: all predefined address pools have been fully subnetted
happens. I'll create a github issue, but at this point, I could have installed a full windows vm in less time than I spent troubleshooting this issue . . . so there's that
Weird to compare it to Wine instead of Cassowary
https://github.com/casualsnek/cassowary
Since both are just running Windows in a VM
Now I wonder if I dual boot linux / windows, why is there no software that can basically use my existing windows installation from another partition to run windows software (like, maybe load it into VM or something)?
You can. You can boot a windows partition in a VM. IIRC it is not really advisable but you can do it.
I actually find that starting a 'raw disk partition' virtual machine for Windows is one of the best ways to run it. Stops it from fucking up your BIOS and EFI when it does an update. You can restart into it when you want the 'native GPU' for games.
Of course, the even better way to stop Windows from fucking up your hardware is to not allow it anywhere near your hardware in the first place...
Has anyone got this working on bazzite by chance? Any additional steps necessary? Winapps didn’t work for me, so looking for an alternative