What is Windows mode?

Windows mode is how Wild OS runs Windows programs. It doesn’t imitate Windows: it runs a real, licensed copy of Windows 11 Pro in a sealed virtual machine, out of sight. You never see its desktop. Each program appears as its own window on yours, with its own taskbar icon, in Alt+Tab and snapping like everything else.

Because it’s real Windows, anything that runs on Windows runs here, including Microsoft 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud.

How a program finds its way

When you double-click a Windows installer, Wild OS checks what it is and sends it the right way:

Most programs install into Windows mode and open as normal windows.
Programs with a Linux version, like Zoom, Slack, Spotify and Steam, are offered from the Store instead. They’re quicker and need no Windows at all.
Games with kernel anti-cheat aren’t supported, and Wild OS says so plainly.

See installing a Windows program.

Light when you’re not using it

A minute after you close your last Windows app, Windows mode pauses and uses no processor time at all. It’s ready again in about a second. On battery, or when memory is short, it saves itself to disk instead and hands all its memory back. See Windows mode day to day.

Sealed off

Windows mode has its own private connection to the internet and can’t see the rest of your computer or your home network. It only sees the folders you share with it, and saving in Word puts the file straight into your Documents folder. See your files in Windows mode.

Wild OS also strips out Windows’ adverts and turns its data collection down as far as Microsoft allows.

What you need

A Windows 11 Pro licence. Most PCs sold with Pro already have one built in. See Windows licences.
Virtualisation switched on in your PC’s firmware.
8 GB of memory or more, 16 GB recommended.
About 26 GB of free space, or 30 GB with Microsoft 365.

Windows itself isn’t included in Wild OS. Windows mode downloads it straight from Microsoft.