Comrades I challenge you to find the stupidest, most convoluted way to run a Windows app !

The rules are :

  • You start with Windows and end with a Windows app
  • All steps must be different, so no using 4 different VM software

Here is my entry, with a score of 9 beautifully stupid steps :

  • Windows > WSL > WSL Wayland compatibility layer > Linux Wayland session > XWayland > QEMU > macOS > Wine > Windows app !

Can anyone do better ? I’m sure whoever get the highest score will gain eternal fame !

  • @[email protected]
    8•8 hours ago

    Not sure about better but I can add a step. Fire up Microsoft word, then write a macro which outputs a shortcut that launches Internet explorer with a URL that loads and local HTML page which after 1 second redirects to a .exe. then click open instead of save as. That only works with really old school internet explorer of course not the modern edge version.

  • @Dagamant
    22•10 hours ago

    I don’t remember the exact process but I ran Linux on computer A and windows on computer B. I installed windows onto a second drive on computer B and set Virtual box on computer A to use that drive as its boot drive over the network. I then shared the primary drive as well so I could boot computer B into either Windows install and run the other as a VM on Computer A.

    I have no idea why I did this but it worked and no one was impressed.

  • tisktiskEnglish
    14•10 hours ago

    Have you…you haven’t…actually tested this out, have you? Surely someone wouldn’t actually do this. Pics or didn’t happen

  • yeehaw
    1•6 hours ago

    So a windows application, or “Windows app” AKA remote desktop? Smh at Microsoft…

  • data1701d (He/Him)English
    2•9 hours ago

    Do attempts without Windows as the first step count e.g running Windows in QEMU on Wine on Linux?

    Also, depending on which version of WSL you used, you might be breaking your own rule with WSL on VMs since WSL2 uses Hyper-V. You might also be breaking it again with QEMU.

    What actually counts as “VM software”? Are you defining it as a hypervisor, or does, for instance, emulating Linux on ARM in an emulator of a RISC V system in an emulator of a PowerPC system break the rule. In addition, do you mean consecutive VM software steps, or could I for instance emulate an ARM CPU that supports hypervisors and run a VM software in there?