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Ubuntu is able to run traditional .exe applications with Wine. However, I do have some Universal Windows Platform (hereafter UWP) apps (installed by .appx and .msix) from the Windows Store that I would like to run. I'm currently using a dual-boot setup with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 16.04, and I mostly only use Windows to run UWP apps. I'd really like to use Ubuntu for everything, without having to reboot over and over again.

As of now, WINE doesn't support UWP apps. Is there any other virtual setup (like WINE) that can run UWP apps, besides just running it in VMware or VirtualBox?

RokeJulianLockhart
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4 Answers4

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Running UWP apps is possible, at least with some apps. I've successfully run the Trello UWP app (which is only available from the Microsoft Store).

First, you need to acquire the .appx file for the UWP app. One way to do this without Windows or the Microsoft Store is to use this site: https://store.rg-adguard.net/

Paste the Microsoft Store URL of the app into the site. For example, the Trello app's URL is: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/trello/9nblggh4xxvw

This gives you links to all of the files available through the Microsoft Store. You only need the .appx file, which may be available as multiple versions (e.g. x86 and x64).

Chrome doesn't want to download the files simply by clicking the links. This made the site feel a bit sketchy at first. In Chrome's DevTools console, Chrome says that it's not downloading the file, because the Microsoft Store URL uses http://, and the site uses https://. But since the file is coming straight from microsoft.com, it feels safe to me.

Right-clicking the link, selecting "Save link as", and choosing "Keep" allows you to download the file despite Chrome's objections.

Once you have the .appx file, you can extract it. It's just a regular zip file, so run something like unzip -d output-dir file.appx or atool -x file.appx.

The extracted files should have a directory called "app", which should have the executable and other files for the app.

For the Trello app, just running wine Trello.exe inside the "app" directory worked for me. But other applications might not work straight away, if something more complex happens during their installation.

Kankaristo
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4

No. Currently, there is no way to do this except from running in a virtual machine. The number of people who request this feature is extremely low and the number of people with the skill and mostly TIME to do this is close to zero I think.

VidathD
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Basically, it's not a question of how to run the UWP app - but how to clone Microsoft Store on Linux in Wine - if the Microsoft Store will be recreated on wine then you can download and install ANY UWP app. It is some like this: https://github.com/kkkgo/LTSC-Add-MicrosoftStore

Adam Ł.
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In theory, the steps for adding support for UWP apps to WINE on Linux might involve the following:

  1. Obtain a thorough understanding of the Windows Runtime API, which is used by UWP apps. This would involve studying the API documentation and examining how UWP apps are built and executed on Windows 10.

  2. Obtain a thorough understanding of the internals of WINE, including its architecture and the functions it provides to Windows applications running on Linux.

  3. Develop a compatibility layer that simulates the functions of the Windows Runtime API, allowing UWP apps to be executed on Linux using WINE. This compatibility layer would likely need to be implemented in C or C++, the languages in which WINE is primarily written.

  4. Test the compatibility layer thoroughly to ensure that it provides the necessary functions and behaves correctly when executing UWP apps on Linux using WINE.

  5. Integrate the compatibility layer into the WINE codebase, and test it again to ensure that it works correctly with the rest of WINE.

  6. Publish the updated version of WINE with support for UWP apps, and make it available for others to use.

Pilot6
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Adam Ł.
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