The idea of ​​a Linux distribution with full (almost) support for Windows applications

Foreword

Hi, Habr! I want to share with you the idea of ​​creating a Linux distribution with full support for Windows applications. It all started about 4 years ago when I first installed Linux. Then I was very interested in this OS, but at first everything was very unusual, because I lacked some applications from Windows, to which I was very used. As a result, it was necessary to keep Windows installed on another partition, and this was very annoying. As I studied Linux, I learned about a program like Wine, and later about VirtualBox. To be honest, Wine didn’t deliver much, as some applications started up on it, while others took a lot of time searching for information and picking up Wine. At that time, VirtualBox helped a lot, as it gave me almost complete integration of Windows with Linux. Now I have completely switched to Linux and almost do not use Windows on VirtualBox, but I still have one idea I would like to implement.

So, using Windows through VirtualBox, I thought about integrating it into Linux as much as possible and using it as a kind of wrapper for running Windows applications directly into Linux. Then I began to think about how to organize my idea and came up with a solution for integration.

How and what will we integrate?

Interface

The basis of integration will be VirtualBox in seamless mode. Since for Linux all Windows windows will be one big window, there’s nothing left to do with it, how to fix it on top of all windows on a separate Linux desktop and prevent Linux from displaying applications on this desktop. Thus, all Windows applications will appear on a separate Linux desktop, which in my opinion is very convenient.
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File system

You can simply mount it to Linux. For example:

/virtualization
/virtualization/Windows/
/virtualization/Documents & Settings/
/virtualization/Program Files/


Call applications

Launching applications is planned through the Linux menu. To organize it will be quite difficult, but realistic. VirtualBox has a console utility that can run applications in the guest OS from the host. This is the plan to set up a call for applications from the Linux menu.

Software installation

In fact, installing software will not be a problem, but I have a more interesting idea. You can use the Linux batch system to install Windows applications. So we all the power of the package manager will be used in Windows. If you make repositories with programs for Windows, then the problem of viruses and system cluttering will disappear.

Application menu

If you use the packages in Windows-based software, then when installing the package, just copy the shortcut to run the program in the guest system. This problem disappears by itself.

Rest

Much has already been implemented by VirtualBox, so that the Internet will work right away, usb - and so much more. At the idea stage it’s hard to think things through. So for now, stop.

What do we get in the end?

We get Linux with full support for Windows applications. Why almost? Because the only thing that will not work is powerful applications that use DirectX, but work is underway on this. Everything else depends on the power of the computer. It will also be possible to start almost any USB device that did not want to work with Linux. Thereby reducing the inconvenience of using Linux from the lack of familiar software to zero. That is, we take the security and functionality of Linux and the power of software from Windows.

And who needs it?

First of all, people who like Linux, but the lack of familiar software infuriates. Or for those who lack one or two professional applications, because of which they cannot use only Linux. Or those who want to learn Linux, but do not go sharply on native applications. It will help those who want to switch to Linux.

What is the problem?

There are a lot of problems. Home - we will still use Windows. I also do not know what will happen to the licenses. Will it be possible to cut the windows we bought the way we want? We also lose a lot of computer resources. Without a processor with hardware virtualization, this will be one big brake and there will still need a lot of RAM. For comfortable work 3-4 GB.

What's next?

I am interested to know the opinion of the community. Perhaps this is a crazy idea, and maybe a good one. The organization of such a project will take a lot of time and effort and will never be implemented by one person. If you find this idea interesting, you can get together and invest in Linux.

PS It was very hard for me to write about the outline of thoughts in my head. This text is just a small part of a big idea. There are a lot of ill-considered moments, and moments that I do not know how to implement. One way or another, the basic functionality of my idea is completely realizable. Do not judge strictly.