Linux, but it works.

GigaHard Winedows is a Linux desktop dressed as W*ndows. Double-click any .exe and it runs, because Win32 turned out to be the stable ABI on Linux.

Download Winedows
Looking for the latest build…
GigaHard Winedows logo

Everything you expect. Nothing you can break.

Double-click to run

Any .exe or .msi opens through Wine. No prompts, no terminal, no "which distro?".

Familiar desktop

This PC, Documents, Recycle Bin and Wi-Fi on the desktop. No taskbar to get lost in.

Edgy browser

Firefox under the hood, branded Edgy, and it tells every website it is Edge.

Zero package managers

apt has been removed. Software arrives the traditional way: as an installer you found somewhere.

The real thing

Winedows desktop with icons for Documents, Edgy, Recycle Bin, This PC, Totally Native Linux App.exe and Wi-Fi
The desktop. Everything starts from an icon. There is nothing else to learn.
The Edgy browser showing the Winedows start page
Edgy, the browser with all the edges.
The Winedows boot menu
The boot menu. It starts on its own.
A ThinkPad laptop running Winedows, with the blueprint wallpaper and Edgy open on the start page
Runs on ThinkPad.

Click a picture to see it full size. Screenshots are from the automated boot test of the latest build.

Binary compatibility

Share of ten-year-old programs that still start when you double-click them. Higher is better.

PlatformResultNotes
Ubuntu, native Linux binaries
23%		"error while loading shared libraries: libpng12.so.0"
Ubuntu, "just recompile it"
41%		Which distro? Which glibc? Which Qt?
GigaHard Winedows, Win32 binaries
100%		Double-click, it runs.

Methodology: we double-clicked things. Inspired by "Win32 is the only stable ABI on Linux". It is funny because it is true.

Get started

  1. Download the ISO above and check it against SHA256SUMS.
  2. Boot it in VirtualBox, QEMU, or from a USB stick (dd, or Rufus in DD mode). Login is automatic.
  3. Double-click Totally Native Linux App.exe on the desktop.
qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 4096 -cdrom winedows.iso

If the download is split into parts, join them first: cat winedows-*.iso.part* > winedows.iso

Under the hood

Debian 13 "trixie", Cinnamon, Firefox ESR and Wine, assembled with live-build. apt is purged in the final build step. Source and issues on GitHub.