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user910681
Asked: 2019-01-23 00:20:03 +0800 CST

How to run Windows Store Apps on Linux

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I am eager to run Windows Store apps (not regular Win32 applications) on my Kubuntu 18.10. Can I run it with Wine? If not, then how should I?

wine windows kubuntu microsoft

3 Answers

  1. (this is a duplicate of my own answer from Is it possible to run Windows 10 UWP apps on Ubuntu?, since this question is basically the same)

    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 the 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.

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  2. Best and perhaps the only way to make this happen is to create a VM with a windows box to run the apps. Because of how Microsoft has the Apps packaged, they are fundamentally different and there currently is no way to port them over to another OS, even with Wine.

    Handy Resources here.

    Maybe in the future Wine will integrate a feature for UWP apps. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

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  3. PlayOnLinux as a fronted wine compatibility layer can be used to run Windows App on Linux, Also, CrossOver is yet another to run the Windows Apps on Linux. But above all, there is be no better option than Dual Boot or VM as wine may have bugs and crashes while installation.

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