WinApps and WinBoat let you run a full Windows installation in the background on a Linux machine and open individual Windows programs as regular windows on your Linux desktop, using Remote Desktop Protocol for seamless integration. They aim to bridge the gap where Wine or Proton still fall short, especially for commercial apps like Microsoft 365 or Adobe Creative Cloud that either do not work reliably under Wine or need features like the Microsoft Store. WinApps is a mature, highly configurable toolkit that supports Docker, Podman and direct KVM/libvirt setups, but it expects you to be comfortable with VM concepts, config files and a multi step installation that can easily take hours. WinBoat is much newer and still in beta, yet it wraps similar ideas in a graphical Electron frontend that automates most of the setup once Docker and FreeRDP are installed, so you mainly pick where to store the Windows container, point it at an ISO and then launch apps from a simple list. Both solutions offer good compatibility with desktop software that resists Wine, but you still pay the usual VM costs, including a Windows license, regular patching, antivirus and higher demands on RAM, CPU and disk, while performance and GPU heavy use cases remain better served by native Linux ports, Wine/Proton or a traditional full screen Windows VM.
When these tools make sense
You typically consider these tools if you are happy on Linux most of the time but rely on one or two critical Windows apps that either refuse to run under Wine or have annoying limitations there. Good examples include current Adobe Creative Cloud tools, Affinity apps, Office desktop clients, some specialist productivity software, or utilities that expect the Microsoft Store or deep Windows integration. They are less suitable if your main goal is gaming, because 3D performance, anti cheat systems and full screen rendering tend to behave better under Wine/Proton or on a dedicated Windows install.
WinApps in a nutshell
- Runs Windows inside Docker/Podman containers or a KVM/libvirt VM and exports selected apps over FreeRDP into your Linux desktop.
- Offers deep customization around VM backend, RDP flags, scaling, storage layout and automation, including remote libvirt setups on another box with GPU passthrough or tuning features like KVM memory ballooning.
- Integrates into the desktop with launchers, Nautilus right click actions, home directory mapping and an optional taskbar widget to control the Windows subsystem.
It suits users who want maximum control, do not mind reading docs and editing configuration files, and maybe already run libvirt or container based Windows VMs for other tasks.
WinBoat in a nutshell
- Ships as AppImage and distro packages, driving a Windows VM inside a Docker (or optional Podman) container with FreeRDP for RemoteApp style windows.
- Focuses on a guided, mostly automatic install that downloads or uses your Windows ISO, sets up the guest, mounts your Linux home directory and then lists detected Windows apps in a clean GUI.
- Hides most of the plumbing and configuration, with a small preferences pane instead of manual config files, but currently lacks things like automatic updates or very advanced layout integration.
It is a better fit if you want a “just works” way of getting specific Windows apps onto a Linux desktop and you are fine with a beta level project that may still have rough edges.
Pros, cons and practical tradeoffs
- Compared with Wine, both WinApps and WinBoat usually win on compatibility, especially for complex commercial suites and the Microsoft Store, at the cost of more RAM, disk and maintenance overhead.
- Compared with a normal Windows VM, they avoid the “Windows desktop in a big window” feeling and integrate app windows, file shares and launchers into your main Linux workflow.
- On weaker hardware or laptops with limited root partitions, storage planning and performance become important, while high end systems with plenty of RAM, fast SSDs and possibly remote VM hosts can take fuller advantage of the flexibility WinApps offers.
