WinApps
Ranked 7 of 27 compatibility layers by recommenders
A free tool that runs Windows apps in Linux windows by using a Windows container and RDP, so they feel native; people say it is clever and works well on modern setups, though it needs a terminal and some setup.
A free tool that runs Windows apps in Linux windows by using a Windows container and RDP, so they feel native; people say it is clever and works well on modern setups, though it needs a terminal and some setup.
30 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 19
- criticize it
- 11
- approval share
- 63%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 19 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Windows apps appear as native windows
“It's pretty good. They use XfreeRDP to remote into the container and display individual windows.”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS” “Winapps lets you run windows applications as if they were native to Linux”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too” “which should behave mostly as a "native" app”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too” Clever use of containers and scripting
“I'm assuming the user doesn't need to manually configure the containers etc; it sounds like from the Readme it's low-friction.”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS” “I think it's a pretty clever use of scripting and containers on top of some fairly mature but hard to use pieces of software.”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS” Easy install from package manager
“A normal user would just install Winapps from package manager, like with all the other Linux software.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Microsoft's "Fix" for Windows 11: Flowers After the Beating” “It's simple enough to the point that a child could use it.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Microsoft's "Fix" for Windows 11: Flowers After the Beating”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slow performance and lag
“Lag was certainly a factor, but there were also weird behaviors like visual glitches and UI rendering issues.”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS” “winapps was unusably slow”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS” Setup requires terminal and container steps
“the next step involves opening a terminal. Instant fail.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Microsoft's "Fix" for Windows 11: Flowers After the Beating” “running the container doesn't work”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS” Uses RDP and Windows images with licensing concerns
“What all of them avoid mentioning is that the images were intended by Microsoft for test and development purposes on Windows”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS” “Thing thing uses RDP for communication which was designed for remotely administering servers over low speed networks.”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS” “this is a tool that breaches several agreements and laws, including the particulary nasty one of DMCA”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS”
Other compatibility layers people recommend
The four most recommended other compatibility layers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton by Valve | 451 | 189 | 70% | 13 | 2 yrs31 owners | Approved |
| Wine | 329 | 88 | 79% | 13 | 10 yrs11 owners | Approved |
| Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) | 159 | 101 | 61% | 12 | 3 yrs9 owners | — |
| WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) | 115 | 55 | 68% | 12 | — | Approved |
| WinAppsThis page | 19 | 11 | 63% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
24 of the 32 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“A normal user would just install Winapps from package manager, like with all the other Linux software.”
“the next step involves opening a terminal. Instant fail.”
“It's simple enough to the point that a child could use it.”
“which should behave mostly as a "native" app”
“Winapps lets you run windows applications as if they were native to Linux”
“can be a game-changer for people relying on some Windows-only software”
“this seems a good use case for WinApps”
“Winapps is pretty good to run the Microsoft office suite.”
“this is a tool that breaches several agreements and laws, including the particulary nasty one of DMCA”
“Lag was certainly a factor, but there were also weird behaviors like visual glitches and UI rendering issues.”
“winapps was unusably slow”
“I'm assuming the user doesn't need to manually configure the containers etc; it sounds like from the Readme it's low-friction.”
“running the container doesn't work”
“At best an opaque box with one knob and hopefully it doesn't fail”
“I think it's a pretty clever use of scripting and containers on top of some fairly mature but hard to use pieces of software.”
“Thing thing uses RDP for communication which was designed for remotely administering servers over low speed networks.”
“it will work nicely if you have a decently modern setup”
“It's pretty good. They use XfreeRDP to remote into the container and display individual windows.”
“This isn’t an elegant solution. She’s back to windows 11.”
“nobody working on the project even considered that as a helpful warning”
“It really whips the llamas ass”
“This is a very cool project.”
“I've had mixed results with this”
“What all of them avoid mentioning is that the images were intended by Microsoft for test and development purposes on Windows”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.