WinBoat<\/strong> is a free, open-source application that lets you run Windows programs directly on your Ubuntu desktop as if they were native Linux apps. Not inside a clunky virtual machine window<\/strong>. Not through Wine’s hit-or-miss compatibility layer. <\/strong>Individual Windows applications open in their own windows,<\/strong> sitting right alongside <\/strong>your Linux programs in the taskbar<\/strong>, sharing your clipboard and file system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this article, we will show how we can download the WinBoat application on Ubuntu and install it along with other requirements such as Docker to install Windows 11 and its applications. However, what to expect once Winboat starts running<\/strong> \u2014 including the rough edges, because this tool is still <\/strong>in beta <\/strong>while writing this article hence it may not always work smoothly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n WinBoat is an Electron-based application created by developer TibixDev<\/strong>, released in mid-2025 <\/strong>and licensed under MIT<\/strong>. The project has picked up serious momentum \u2014 as of early 2026, it has nearly 20,000 <\/strong>stars on GitHub<\/strong>, active development with regular releases, and a growing community on Discord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s the simplified version of what happens when you use WinBoat: <\/strong>it runs a real copy<\/strong> of Windows <\/strong>inside a Docker <\/strong>or Podman <\/strong>container on your machine. Behind the scenes, that container <\/strong>uses KVM <\/strong>(Linux’s built-in virtualization technology) to run the Windows <\/strong>instance as a lightweight virtual machine. WinBoat <\/strong>then communicates with a “Guest Server<\/strong>” installed inside Windows to detect your installed applications, manage resources, and handle integration features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The clever part is how it displays the apps<\/strong>. Instead of showing you a full Windows desktop <\/strong>inside a window <\/strong>(like VirtualBox would), WinBoat <\/strong>uses FreeRDP <\/strong>along with Microsoft’s RemoteApp <\/strong>protocol to extract individual application windows and composite them onto your Linux desktop. So when you launch<\/strong>, say, Microsoft Word through WinBoat, you see a Word window \u2014 not a Windows desktop with Word running inside it. It behaves like any other window on your Ubuntu machine. You can Alt-Tab to it, resize it, and <\/strong>move it between workspaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is fundamentally different from Wine. Wine tries to translate Windows API calls to Linux equivalents in real time \u2014 which works brilliantly for some apps but fails completely for anything that relies on newer Windows APIs, UWP frameworks, the Microsoft Store, or heavy DRM. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’ve heard of WinApps<\/a><\/strong>, you’re probably wondering how WinBoat compares. Both use the same underlying approach <\/strong>\u2014 a Windows VM exporting individual app windows via RDP’s <\/strong>RemoteApp feature. The difference is in philosophy and user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WinApps <\/strong>is the older, more mature project<\/strong>. It’s highly configurable and supports Docker, Podman, and direct KVM\/libvirt setups.<\/strong> But it expects you to be comfortable editing config files, running setup scripts, and troubleshooting virtualization issues. There’s no graphical installer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WinBoat <\/strong>takes the opposite approach. It wraps everything in a polished GUI. You install it, launch it, pick your preferences (RAM allocation, CPU cores, storage location, Windows ISO), and WinBoat handles the rest \u2014 downloading Windows, configuring the container, setting up RDP, and <\/strong>installing the Guest Server. The tradeoff is less customization, but for most people who just want their Windows apps working, that’s a fair deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One practical difference worth noting:<\/strong> WinApps registers your Windows apps directly in your Linux application launcher, so you can find them in your GNOME <\/strong>or KDE <\/strong>menu. WinBoat currently keeps apps inside its own interface \u2014 you launch WinBoat first, then open your apps from there. It’s a minor workflow difference, but worth knowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before installing, make sure your Ubuntu machine meets these requirements. WinBoat is not demanding by modern standards, but it does need certain things in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hardware:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Software:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Note:<\/strong> One thing to be aware of: if your Ubuntu system uses Wayland (which is the default on Ubuntu 24.04 and later), you may experience some quirks with window management, especially on multi-monitor setups. Several users in the community have reported better stability under X11. If you run into weird display behavior, switching to an X11 session at the login screen is a reasonable first troubleshooting step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m breaking this into stages because the Docker <\/strong>setup on Ubuntu<\/a> is where most people hit snags. Take <\/strong>it one step at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, remove any old or conflicting Docker packages that might be lingering on your system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now add Docker’s official repository. <\/strong>This ensures you get the latest version directly from Docker rather than the potentially outdated package in Ubuntu’s default repos:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Add the Docker repository to your system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Install Docker Engine and its companion tools:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, this part is critical, and people forget it all the time \u2014 add your user to the Docker group so<\/strong> you can run Docker commands without sudo:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You must log out and log back in<\/strong> (or reboot) for this group change to take effect. Skipping this step is the single most common reason WinBoat throws errors on first launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After relogging, verify Docker <\/strong>is working:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you see a success message, Docker is ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WinBoat needs FreeRDP 3.x to render Windows application windows on your desktop. On Ubuntu 24.04 and later:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Verify the installation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should see a version number. As long as it’s 2.x or 3.x, you’re good to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Head to the WinBoat <\/strong>releases page on GitHub (github.com\/TibixDev\/winboat\/releases<\/a>) and download the Install it with APT, which will handle dependencies automatically:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alternatively<\/strong>, if you prefer not to use the .deb package, WinBoat also offers an AppImage. Download it, make it executable ( Launch WinBoat from your application menu or by typing On first launch, <\/strong>WinBoat checks that all prerequisites <\/strong>are met \u2014 Docker running, Docker group membership, FreeRDP installed, KVM available. If anything is missing, it tells you what needs fixing. If the system met all the pre-requirements you will get NEXT button enabled to move forward. This pre-flight check is one of the things that makes WinBoat friendlier than WinApps for beginners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once everything passes, WinBoat walks you through creating your Windows instance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once setup finishes, WinBoat’s dashboard<\/strong> shows the status of your Windows <\/strong>instance, including resource usage and connection status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Open the Apps<\/strong> section in WinBoat’s left-hand menu.<\/strong> You’ll see a list of detected <\/strong>Windows applications \u2014 the built-in ones like Notepad, Paint, WordPad, and File Explorer are there automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click any app name <\/strong>and hit Launch<\/strong>. WinBoat fires up the RDP connection<\/strong> (if it’s not already active), and within a few seconds, the application window appears on your Ubuntu desktop. It looks and behaves like a regular window. You can copy and paste <\/strong>between it and your Linux <\/strong>apps. Your Linux home directory is accessible inside Windows as a mounted network drive, so file sharing between the two environments is straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To install software that isn’t already in the default app list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If an app doesn’t appear automatically, <\/strong>you can add it manually using the Add Custom<\/strong> option, where you specify the app name <\/strong>and the path <\/strong>to its executable inside Windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since version 0.9.0, WinBoat also supports UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps<\/strong>, meaning Microsoft Store applications are visible and launchable too \u2014 something that’s completely impossible with Wine or Bottles.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n I want to be upfront about this because WinBoat is still in beta, and some articles online make it sound more polished than it currently is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What works well:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The installation experience, once Docker is set up, is genuinely smooth. The GUI is well-designed and walks you through everything. Basic productivity apps \u2014 Microsoft Office, WPS Office, Adobe Acrobat, Notepad++, and similar \u2014 run without issues for most users. Clipboard sharing and file system integration work as advertised. Audio passthrough functions through FreeRDP. USB passthrough has been available since version 0.8.0 as an experimental feature (Docker only, not yet on Podman).<\/p>\n\n\n\n What has rough edges:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no GPU acceleration yet. <\/strong>Applications that need graphics horsepower (Photoshop with large canvases, video editing tools, 3D modeling software) will run, but they’ll be slow because all rendering happens in software through the CPU. The WinBoat team has looked into paravirtualized GPU drivers but nothing is production-ready at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Games with kernel-level anti-cheat (Valorant, Fortnite with EAC, etc.) w<\/strong>on’t work. Anti-cheat systems detect the virtualized environment and refuse to run. This is a fundamental limitation of any VM-based approach, not specific to WinBoat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Multi-monitor setups on Wayland can be problematic. <\/strong>FreeRDP and Wayland don’t always play nicely together, and community reports indicate window placement, resizing, and display mapping issues. Switching to X11 resolves most of these problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first cold launch of an app <\/strong>(when the Windows container isn’t already running) takes 10\u201320 seconds. Subsequent launches are much faster since the VM stays running in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disk usage is significant. <\/strong>A WinBoat installation with Windows and a few apps can easily eat 30\u201340 GB. That’s the nature of running a real Windows instance, but it’s worth factoring into your storage planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WinBoat is excellent for a specific use case, but it’s not the right tool for every situation. Here’s a quick guide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use WinBoat when<\/strong> you need to run commercial Windows applications (Office, Adobe, proprietary enterprise software) that don’t work in Wine, and you want them integrated into your Linux desktop without managing a VM manually. WinBoat is also the better choice over WinApps if you’re not comfortable with config files and CLI-heavy setup. You can also see – How to install Wine on Ubuntu 24.04 Linux<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat Is WinBoat and How Does It Work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Is WinBoat Different from WinApps?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
System Requirements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Step-by-Step WinBoat Installation on Ubuntu<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Stage 1: Install Docker Engine<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
for pkg in docker.io docker-doc docker-compose docker-compose-v2 podman-docker containerd runc; do sudo apt-get remove $pkg; done<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nsudo apt-get update\nsudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl\nsudo install -m 0755 -d \/etc\/apt\/keyrings\nsudo curl -fsSL https:\/\/download.docker.com\/linux\/ubuntu\/gpg -o \/etc\/apt\/keyrings\/docker.asc\nsudo chmod a+r \/etc\/apt\/keyrings\/docker.asc<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\necho \\\n \"deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=\/etc\/apt\/keyrings\/docker.asc] https:\/\/download.docker.com\/linux\/ubuntu \\\n $(. \/etc\/os-release && echo \"${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-$VERSION_CODENAME}\") stable\" | \\\n sudo tee \/etc\/apt\/sources.list.d\/docker.list > \/dev\/null<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nsudo apt-get update\nsudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nsudo usermod -aG docker $USER<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\ndocker run hello-world<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n![\"Check](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Check-Docker-is-working.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStage 2: Install FreeRDP<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
sudo apt update\nsudo apt install freerdp3-x11<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nfreerdp3-x11<\/code> isn’t available in your Ubuntu version’s repositories, fall back to version 2.x:<\/p>\n\n\n\nsudo apt install freerdp2-x11<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nxfreerdp3 \/version\nor \nxfreerdp \/version<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n![\"check](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/check-freerdp-installed-version-on-Ubuntu.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nStage 3: Install WinBoat<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
.deb<\/code> file for the latest release<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\ncd ~\/Downloads\nsudo apt install .\/winboat-*-amd64.deb<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nchmod +x WinBoat-*.AppImage<\/code>), and run it directly. Note <\/strong>that the AppImage <\/strong>route requires libfuse2<\/code> to be installed <\/strong>\u2014 you can grab <\/strong>it with sudo apt install libfuse2<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStage 4: First Launch and Windows Setup<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
winboat<\/code> in the terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Winboat](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Winboat-launching-1024x495.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"WinBoat](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WinBoat-checks-that-all-prerequisites-are-met.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
~\/winboat<\/code>, but you can point it anywhere \u2014 useful if your home directory is on a smaller partition and you have a second drive with more space.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n![\"select](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/select-storage-location-for-WinBoat-1024x744.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"Select](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Select-Windows-11-Version-to-install-on-Docker-using-Winboat-1024x747.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"Select](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Select-username-and-password-for-Winboat.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"allocate](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/allocate-resources-Winboat.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"completed](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/completed-Winboat-setup-on-Ubuntu-1024x822.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Installation](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Installation-Winboat.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Winboat](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Winboat-Status-Dashboard.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRunning Windows Apps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Running](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Running-Windows-Apps-on-Winboat-Linux-Ubuntu.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInstalling Additional Windows Software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
![\"Full](\"https:\/\/linux.how2shout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Full-desktop-windows-11-Winboat-ubuntu.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat Works Well, and What Doesn’t (Honest Assessment)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
WinBoat vs Other Methods: When to Use What<\/h2>\n\n\n\n