How it works

Three layers.Each one earns its place.

A hardened Linux core, a desktop rebuilt from scratch, and a real copy of Windows for the programs that need it. Here is how they fit together, and why none of them gets in your way.

  1. The Wild desktopStart, the taskbar, Settings and every screen you touch, rebuilt from scratch.
  2. Windows modeA real copy of Windows, hidden away. Its programs appear as normal windows.
  3. Hardened foundationDebian, hardened from the kernel up. Locked down before any app runs.
  4. Hover the diagram to pull the layers apart.

The foundation

Hardened Debian underneath.

Wild OS is built on Debian, the operating system behind a large share of the world's servers, with a deep layer of security hardening on top. It's the part you never see and never have to manage.

Kernel

Locked down from the start

Many kernel and system settings are tightened by default, closing off whole kinds of attack before any app runs.

Apps

Confined by default

AppArmor profiles and sandboxing limit what each program can reach, so one bad download has a much harder time reaching the rest.

Updates

Signed and verified

Every update is signed and checked before it installs. Restarts happen when you choose.

The desktop

Built on KDE's engine. Rebuilt on top.

We kept the parts that are proven: KDE's window manager, the Qt toolkit and decades of Linux drivers. Then we redesigned every surface you touch, so it feels like one product rather than a collection of parts.

Quick settings, notifications and the calendar from the taskbar

Redesigned from scratch for Wild OS:

Start and searchTaskbar and trayQuick settingsNotificationsSettingsInstallerFirst startTask ManagerFilesRight-click menusSave and open dialogsLock screenStart-up animationWindows mode

One spacing system, one type scale, one set of icons, in light and dark. Labels never wrap, buttons say what they do, and nothing uses words only an expert would know.

Apps

Two kinds of apps. Both just work.

Linux apps come from the Store, from Debian and Flathub. Windows programs install the way they always have: download, double-click, done.

The Wild OS Store with apps checked and sandboxed
Linux apps

From the Store, checked

Thousands of free apps. Flathub apps run in a sandbox, with permissions you can see and change. Updates arrive together, quietly.

Windows apps

Straight from the developer

Download an installer from anywhere, double-click it, and Wild OS routes it to the right place.

You double-clickInvoiceMaker-Setup.exe

Wild OS checks who made it and looks it up in its compatibility list, then sends it the right way. You just see it install.

Windows modeMost programs. Installs into real Windows and opens as its own window.
Native appZoom, Slack, Discord and Steam have proper Linux versions. Steam's Proton runs most Windows games without Windows mode.
Not supportedA few games with kernel anti-cheat won't run. We say so, plainly.

Windows mode

Real Windows. Only when you need it.

Windows mode is a genuine copy of Windows 11 running in a sealed virtual machine. You never see its desktop: each program appears as its own window on yours, in your taskbar, in Alt+Tab, snapping like everything else.

Running

While you use it

A Windows app is open. Windows mode uses about 2 GB of memory and only the processor it needs.

Processor
Memory
Paused

The moment you stop

A minute after you close your last Windows app, it pauses. No processor time at all, ready again in about a second.

Processor
Memory
Saved

On battery or short of memory

It saves itself to disk and hands all its memory back. A few seconds to come back.

Processor
Memory
Files

Your files stay on Wild OS

Saving in Word puts the file straight in your Documents folder. Windows only sees the folders you share with it.

Speed

Your favourites stay ready

Word, Excel and the apps you use most stay loaded in the background, so they open in about a second.

Safety

Shutting down never loses work

If a document is unsaved, Wild OS keeps Windows exactly as it was and reopens it next time, unsaved changes included.

See it in action.

Click through every screen in the tour, or download the alpha and try it yourself.

Download Wild OSMake a USB stick

Alpha 1 for 64-bit PCs, about 2 GB. Checksums