Howto & Style

Winboat: Seamlessly Run Windows Apps on Linux

📚 Main topics

What Winboat doesWinboat runs Windows applications in a Docker- or Podman-based virtual machine and displays them as if they were running on the Linux desktop. It also provides access to the full Windows desktop. 0:00
Installation requirementsSetup requires hardware virtualization, Docker or Podman, and FreeRDP. The video walks through downloading the appropriate package, configuring the VM, and installing Windows. 0:32
Using Windows appsInstalled Windows apps appear in Winboat’s apps section and can be opened individually, or used through the full Windows desktop. 3:06
Configuration optionsThe app lets users adjust VM resources, display settings, shared folders, startup behavior, and experimental USB passthrough. 4:09

✨ Key takeaways

Lightweight setupThe presenter reports that the VM runs well on a laptop with 8 GB of RAM, using about 2 GB in their setup. Windows 10 is recommended as a lighter option than Windows 11. 0:00
Some latency is noticeableApps are streamed over RDP, which works well for general use, though latency can be apparent in tasks like drawing in Paint. 3:06
Keep resource use in mindUsers can choose how many CPU cores and how much RAM the VM can use, depending on their computer’s capabilities. 2:04

🧠 Lessons learned

Limit access to host filesThe presenter recommends not sharing the Linux home folder with the VM; a dedicated shared folder can be used to transfer files instead. 2:36
Avoid unnecessary background useDisabling automatic container startup can prevent the VM from running when it is not needed. Disabling animations may also reduce resource use. 4:09
Treat USB passthrough as experimentalUSB devices can be passed through to Windows, but the feature is marked experimental. 4:39

🏁 Conclusion/next steps

Set up and customize WinboatFollow the installation steps, choose VM resources appropriate for your system, and adjust settings such as startup behavior and display scaling. 4:39
Share issues and feedbackThe presenter invites viewers to leave questions or setup problems in the comments. 4:39

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Transcript excerpt

0:00 Winboat is the easiest way to seamlessly run Windows applications on Linux. Things like the Microsoft Office suite and Adobe applications work perfectly fine. Unlike Wine, this does actually create a virtual machine using Docker and KVM. But the reason why I recommend Winboat is because you don't need to know how to set up virtual machines at all. [music] And the apps open up as if they're actually running on your host machine like this. You can also access the Windows desktop directly if you prefer that as well. Also, my laptop only has 8 GB of RAM and I'm able to run it really well. As you can see, my temperature is only about 50° C for my

0:32 CPU, and it's only taking about 2 GB of RAM, which is really good. So, let's take a look at the app. To install this application, we're going to need to go to their GitHub page, [music] and I'll leave this link in the description. Then, if we scroll down, we should see this releases section over here, and I'll click on the latest release. Now, if we scroll down again, we should see all the files that are available to download. If you're on a Fedora based distribution, download the RPM file. And if you're on a Debian based distribution like Ubuntu or anything based on that, you would download this.deb file. This app image will work on all Linux

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