Windows applications

Many Windows programs run on SakuraOS through Wine, a compatibility layer. Wine is not installed until you turn Windows program support on, and turning it off removes it again.

Turning it on

Open System Settings → SakuraOS.
Under Windows programs, turn Wine on. It downloads and installs about 1 GB, and shows its progress.

This installs Wine together with Mono and Gecko, which many Windows programs need for .NET and for showing web pages. Turning it off later removes all three.

Running a Windows program

Open the program's .exe or .msi file, for example by double-clicking it in the file manager. Before it runs, SakuraOS asks what you want to do:

If the program has a Linux version, for example a Firefox or Spotify installer, it offers that instead, with Get or Open the download page. The Linux version almost always works better.
If it is a program SakuraOS does not recognize, it reminds you to run it only if you trust where it came from.

Choose Run it anyway to run it with Wine. Programs you install this way appear in the application menu, and in the SakuraOS settings page, where each can be removed.

What works

Wine runs a great deal of Windows software, but not all of it. The Wine application database lists how well individual programs work. Many large commercial applications, especially recent Microsoft Office and Adobe versions, do not work well. Many of these have web versions that work in the browser.

For games, use Steam instead; its Proton is built for games. See Gaming.

Last checked against the SakuraOS release of 3 October 2026. If your system behaves differently from this page, the page is wrong: please report it.