What is your preferred way of running Windows exclusive software when the need arises?
Posted by vanwaldi@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 69 comments
I am trying to ditch Windows for good, and for my personal usage I can already cover all my needs with Linux native software and progressive web apps. But for my job, occasionally I need to run full-fledged Word or Excel, and I'm used to PaintNET and Affinity Photo for image editing, I also really like Wondershare Filmora video editor. I am debating which is the best alternative and wondering what other Linux users do in this situation?
Dual-boot? A hassle having to jump back and forth between the two OS, not to mention having to keep Windows updates. I'd rather forget Windows exists as native OS.
Wine/Proton? As of 2024 it still seems a convoluted process, pollutes your distro with Windows executables and libraries (eww) and of course there are no guarantees the specific app needed will run.
Local virtual machine? - Not ideal if you are using a laptop on battery often as the performance overhead will drain the battery faster, also it is just slow and annoying.
Cloud virtual machine? I never tried it before, I wonder what's the performance like, but surely it requires adding a monthly expense.
RDP into a Windows PC? This is the one I am most inclined to, even though I don't have a separate desktop PC right now, but I tried Parsec to someone else's laptop and it really has low latency streaming if the connection is good, it's quite usable, more so than a virtual machine.
Any other possibilities I am missing?
Otherwise-Listen-780@reddit
i just dual boot because i have problems with wine
shanehiltonward@reddit
Once you've used Linux for years, you don't really think about Microsoft applications anymore.
timmy_o_tool@reddit
I mostly agree with you, but I still run into things specialized software that still requires windows, and doesn't play nice under wine.. like the Power Commander programming suit for my motorcycle.
shanehiltonward@reddit
Give "Bottles" and "Lutris" a try.
RAMChYLD@reddit
I have a separate machine for Windows software. I just flip a switch on my KVM.
ManlySyrup@reddit
Wait, but KVMs are used to run multiple OSes on the same machine. If you have a separate machine then why would you need KVM?
Malsententia@reddit
Sorry you're getting downvoted. I've made the same mistake when working as a field tech. I was in a university's computer lab, overheard "KVM" and I was all "Oh what are you using kernel virtual machines for?"...then they explained I remembered another thing shared that same acronym.
ManlySyrup@reddit
Yeah it's alright, I'm not gonna lose sleep over internet points lol thanks for the concern though. It's such a minor misunderstanding though, not sure why it's getting downvoted this much but whatever.
Snowrunner06032024@reddit
You didn't read the reply did you?
He, like me, said he has a separate machine for Windows. I have two desktops and a KVM switch. If I need one or the other I just flick the switch - or if they're both up and running double tap the "Scroll lock" key.
shikkonin@reddit
Lol no. They are used to switch one set of peripherals between multiple PCs.
RAMChYLD@reddit
Op confused Keyboard-Video-Mouse switch with Kernel Virtual Machine (qemu's backend)
shikkonin@reddit
Indeed, but since the plural was used it should be rather obvious that this was not meant.
ManlySyrup@reddit
No one used KVM as plural, only me. I didn't know KVM could mean the Keyboard Video Mouse thingy lol.
RAMChYLD@reddit
KVM = keyboard video mouse switch.
I currently use one of these: https://www.aten.com/global/en/products/kvm/desktop-kvm-switches/cs1784a/
guxtavo@reddit
get a job where you can use Linux
Bobby_Marks2@reddit
I've tried them all, my two cents:
Your only real other options would be:
jr735@reddit
Rule 5.
SaxonyFarmer@reddit
I've used Linux in various flavors for nearly 20 years. My daily driver for the last 10 years is a Ubuntu desktop system but I still use Windows for our household financial accounting via Quicken and spring time tax preparation work with TurboTax and H&R Block (my current favorite). I am a retired IBM MVS systems programmer and IT manager, not a gamer, and nor do I do extensive photo or video work so my needs are easily fulfilled by what I can find for Linux (office products, email, web browsing, note taking, development).
Over my 'career' with Linux, I have tried various methods to run the Windows-exclusive products I need on the same hardware.
Dual booting was a pain in the ass. It worked OKl and I was able to configure my system to share the Thunderbird and Firefox profiles between Win & Linux so I could access current mail and bookmarks no matter which OS was booted. I was spoiled - I liked doing my daily work on Linux - and if I needed to update something in Quicken to during tax prep season, I had to stop my work and boot.
VMs are slow and buggy. I tried VMWare, VirtualBox, and QEMU. Win was slow on all of them (and I'm running an 8-thread AMD with 16GB of memory from an SSD) and I often had to reboot to fix a lockup or some other crap.
Emulators are so-so. I cannot get the H&R Block software to run on Wine or Crossover (yep, I paid a nominal fee for Crossover). Quicken is quirky on Crossover and if something breaks, Quicken support won't talk with you. CodeWeavers were responsive but if a Quicken release added something that broke emulation, I was stuck until CodeWeavers could fix CrossOver to support the new feature or new code. Right now, I can't run Quicken on Crossover due to something Quicken did and CodeWeavers can't or hasn't fixed it yet (blank screen when Quicken asks me to login to the Quicken servers). I opened a ticket, responded to their requests but Quicken no longer works on CrossOver. To resolve this, I am using a laptop I got in early 2017 when I was traveling to manage my brother's estate to run Quicken under Win10. I fear when Quicken stops supporting Win10 and the laptop (an I7 with 8 threads, 16GB, & and SSD) isn't compatible with Win11 but runs Win10 and Ubuntu great (yes, it is dual boot but I rarely boot Ubuntu and only to let it catch up on updates.)
That's my take. The bottom line is I'm running my Windows needs on a Windows machine due to too much FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) trying to run my Windows needs on Linux.
Past-Pollution@reddit
I've done a mix of things.
I've set up virtual machines with GPU passthrough (using a cheap Quadro M2000 I bought off eBay as a second GPU in my desktop), and using a KVM switch to quickly go between Windows and Linux. My plan to start using Looking Glass and dummy DisplayPort plugs to essentially share the desktop to Linux though so I can have it as a window on the Linux side though.
I've also dual booted at times too. I keep a Windows install around just in case I need it for something that I can't quickly get working on Linux and need urgently. Though honestly that almost never happens anymore, I've steadily adapted so much of my day to day use cases to things that work on Linux.
stking68@reddit
for simple tasks Virutal machines using Virt-manager for more intense and resource hug apps i have couple of older thinkpads that have a windows partition
samdimercurio@reddit
You can't get both AffinityPhoto and Filmora to run on Linux. For M$ office just run a virtual machine.
At this point there is a YouTube video (or 57) on every piece of windows software and how to get it running (or not) on Linux.
Bottom line, try bottles, playonlinux or crossover if you must.
Bottles worked for me with Filmora.
whosdr@reddit
It's not an answer, but I'm 4 years and 4 months into switching to Linux full time, and the need just hasn't arisen. Every organisation I deal with seems to use online services for coordination and documents, and everything gaming I do seems to just work fine on Linux (Or I make it work).
adrian_vg@reddit
I, and the other Linux centric users at work, have a Windows VM installed on ESX that we RDP into as needed.
I also have Virtualbox installed on my Linux laptop for quick'n'dirty Windows usage.
TomaszGasior@reddit
Bottles for software easy to set up inside its bottles. Otherwise, KVM/QEMU virtual machine configured with separate real SSD so I can boot the same Windows instance on bare metal if I need.
stevep99@reddit
Fortunately the need doesn't usually arise.
A while back I used a virtual machine to check something with MS Keyboard Layout Creator.
The only other circumstance I can think of would be if a particular game I was interested in didn't work in Linux, but even that scenario is unlikely these days. If you are using Steam, the process isn't convoluted at all, it generally Just Works.
AndyGait@reddit
I have a desktop, so I dual boot. I have 3 drives in this PC. My nvme has Linux (CachyOS) on it. I then have two SSDs. One for storage. The other with Windows on it. I rarely use the Windows drive, but it just sits there, just in case.
SuAlfons@reddit
Windows
CatalonianBookseller@reddit
I mostly use Windows to run Windows software
Chromiell@reddit
I keep a Windows VM at hand but I haven't turned it on in the last couple of years. Last time I used it was when I modded my Majora's Mask ROM because it needed a PowerShell script and Windows was the easiest to work with.
MatchingTurret@reddit
I boot up one of my other laptops.
MustangBarry@reddit
I don't use Windows software. Literally never. You may as well ask why I don't run Mac OS programs on my machine, or Commodore 64.
PavelDobCZ23@reddit
Dual-boot is the option I chose for selected games and apps, that I might need and it's the best imo. They're not apps I need all the time. I have a GRUB menu where I can easily select Win, or even a shortcut that reboots from Linux to Win directly. I have separate drives, so one of them has ⅓ size partition for Win, so I don't worry about Win messing up anything Linux related. I don't care about Windows updates at all, when it needs a reboot, I'm prolly rebooting back to Linux anyway. The only downside is that I need to update some apps/games on Windows, but it's not that big of a deal for me.
AvonMustang@reddit
As for Paint.NET and Affinity Photo it's very likely GIMP will do everything you need though you will have to learn something new. The good news is there are tons of very good YouTube videos on GIMP so you should be able to pick up the basics like layering and conversions pretty fast.
I thought I'd miss MS Office but I really don't. LibreOffice Writer is just fine as a replacement for Word. However, LibreOffice Calc isn't as good as Excel but is slowly getting better.
Turns out the only thing I really miss from Windows is Notepad++ but as I get better with Sublime even that isn't as big an issue as it was - I still miss it sometimes though.
If you have a spare machine around I'd advise to just give it a shot and see if you can find replacements for your Windows applications rather than taking time to figure out how to run Windows applications on Linux.
Ugg1an@reddit
Have you tried Notepadqq ?
lKrauzer@reddit
Look for Linux alternatives, FOSS above all brother
crackez@reddit
VM with USB pass through - the only time I've needed it was to program (firmware update) another device that only supported Windows.
ben2talk@reddit
Dual booting is not a 'hassle'. It's a minor inconvenience.
Hassle is when you try to set up virtual machines/wine/proton to run Windows software instead of simply learning to use alternatives.
-genericuser-@reddit
I have a 2nd HD and just boot it via bios boot order.
KamiIsHate0@reddit
I rarely need windows for anything but some games. Still dualbooting take like 5s to reboot and switch between them.
pqratusa@reddit
Two separate SSDs if your system allows it with boot order USB, Linux, and Windows.
Grub is smart enough to list the Windows SSD during boot. I just restart and go into Windows if needed. Haven’t done that though in over 3 months though.
ColetteDiskette@reddit
Bottles. I run everything through Wine using Bottles. https://usebottles.com/
If it doesn't run that way, I typically reconsider whether I actually need the software or not.
mwyvr@reddit
For real time performance while editing images, you will almost certainly need to run Windows as a kvm/qemu virtual machine with GPU passthrough, implying that you'll have two different GPU devices in your system.
It works, but is a bit non-trivial to get going, depending on your Linux experience. Lots of "guides" out there but as with everything they may not be current or apply to your distribution of choice.
I run Windows 11 this way, almost entirely for Photoshop and Lightroom.
malkauns@reddit
is there a way to do this with just 1 gpu?
mwyvr@reddit
You can do single GPU passthrough, but if you truly have only 1 GPU, that means you will lose your Linux desktop when you free up the GPU for the VM. For me that's not useful enough, but maybe someone who does this can weigh in as to how it helps them.
If your machine has an "internal GPU" and a higher end GPU, great.
goonwild18@reddit
This is why Linux has failed on the desktop for 30 years.
CryGeneral9999@reddit
I’ve tried to get a reasonably performant win11 VM running on my 10th gen i7 with 32gb (laptop). I run openSUSE. I’ve struggled. I’ve setup a Win11 VM on my mini PC (Ryzen 5800h/32g). Both have NVME. The ryzen mini is actually usable, and I have Cockpit setup on it so I can access it from the web. Not sure why my laptop is such a dog, guess it’s just not that good :(.
My laptop has a 2tb NVMe. I started dual booting but haven’t had to use Windows in months now. So. Now I am thinking of starting over and using all 2tb for openSUSE because I’m sure if I opened Windows it’d need so many updates it’d take a day to get it performant. Seems whenever there are a lot of updates my machine slows down.
monocasa@reddit
For running weird windows stuff that won't run on Linux, I mainly have a bunch of VMs that mainly aren't even bridges to public Ethernet. Then I can use older versions of windows that use less resources than even just a more modern app would.
XP and Win 7 boot just about instantly, and don't require a lot of CPU or RAM.
jjudeb@reddit
I've found that MSWindows in a VM on Linux often runs faster than it does on bare metal. I think this is because KVM/Virtualbox/VMWare are more agressive at caching disk I/O than MSWindows on bare metal. The effect even applies to NVME disks.
Like most people here, Linux packages meet all of my software requirements, from Libreoffice to digikam to steam. Moreover, all of the very few software packages that forced me to use MSWindows in the past are now available as web services.
Aside from keeping the OS patches current once a month, I do not need to run my Win11 VM.
Max-P@reddit
Wine if it works in it, virtual machine if it doesn't.
The overhead of a virtual machine is much lower than people think. For the last couple years I've been doing most of my gaming in a VFIO VM, and it works great. There's barely any performance difference between Wine/Proton and the VFIO VM.
If you have an Intel CPU in your laptop you likely can use GVT-g to split the integrated GPU and give part of it to the VM for better video performance. The sluggishness of modern Windows in a VM is pretty much entirely because there's no video driver for it so it falls back to software rendering which does it all on the CPU, takes all of the CPU and performs really badly.
If your laptop has a dedicated switchable GPU, like an NVIDIA card, then you can use either the NVIDIA for the VM. It will chew more battery using the power hungry GPU, but if you're going to be doing video editing or using Adobe products it would probably get turned on anyway.
Failing all that, RDP to a local VM is faster than using the GUI output from the VM. The protocol is optimized for network access and defers a chunk of the rendering to the client, which in your case would be the Linux host with working video drivers. It's still kind of slow but it's regular RDP slow.
Last resort would be Parsec. If you use a cloud VM, it's basically gonna be similar in performance as Parsec over the Internet. The thing with that is you can shut it down when you don't use it so it can be a while before it costs more than buying a separate desktop PC.
robertpro01@reddit
BoltLayman@reddit
I am using Windows when I need Windows-only software.
N5tp4nts@reddit
If you need those apps, you won’t ditch windows. You might use windows less and also use Linux, but you will not ditch windows.
You’ll use windows and fiddle with Linux a lot.
twitchismental@reddit
For Paint.NET you could use Krita or GIMP
Ass_Salada@reddit
I go to the libary
echosofverture@reddit
proxmox with a windows vm to rdp into. Works fine.
tomscharbach@reddit
I run Windows and Linux in parallel, on separate computers, one for work and the other for personal use. I've done that for close to two decades.
dethb0y@reddit
I don't. Fuck'em.
Siegfried-Rockster@reddit
I DGAF about bindows or any of their shitty software.
I DGAF if certain games only run on windows either.
I will never use Bindows just like i will never see Bill Gates as trustworthy.
This makes me based!
VTHMgNPipola@reddit
Then don't comment on the post that's specifically for the people that need to use Windows software, which you clearly don't.
Siegfried-Rockster@reddit
I do solely so for entertainment purposes to laugh at Bindows users and their support for spyware in their OS of choice. Recall deserves ridicule.
Kruug@reddit
There is no spyware in Windows. Recall is not spyware.
AntiProtonBoy@reddit
Maybe you should just go back to /g/ and shitpost your infantile drivel there.
AnjavChilahim@reddit
I never use windows on my laptop.
computer-machine@reddit
My office provides the machine and software they want me to use.
CallEnvironmental902@reddit
i'd search for open-source alternatives, even so, i wouldn't stay centimeters to windows.
no_brains101@reddit
Vm if 1 disc, dual boot if 2
dicksonleroy@reddit
Affinity Photo 1.* runs in Wine using Bottles.
VTHMgNPipola@reddit
For most stuff I just dual-boot. Having to restart my computer anytime I have to use certain software is horrible, but for now nothing beats an actual bare metal Windows install.
I found that LTspice works decently well on Wine (unfortunately not Qspice), and currently that's the only one I run on Linux with Bottles.
undersquire@reddit
Affinity Photo should work under wine (iirc there is a guide for setting it up in bottles, having trouble finding it but here is a forum link talking about it). Paint.NET unfortunately doesn’t due to wine having an incomplete implementation of Direct2D.
In general, for software that simply doesn’t work through wine on linux, I personally just dual boot. I have an external ssd that i keep a windows 10 install on and can boot that up in any case i really need to. I think it is a bit easier and more convenient than trying to setup a VM with decent performance.