- A new concept for a Linux distro was recently released
- Loss32 aims to be the Windows desktop sitting on top of the Linux kernel
- It works via WINE, which is a runtime environment for running Windows apps on Linux – but there’s still a long way to go
Some Windows 10 users are already making the jump to Linux—perhaps because their PCs can’t run Windows 11—and a new project could spark further enthusiasm for the alternative OS (as SteamOS has certainly already done on the gaming front).
The Register reports that a new Linux distro has a very cool idea in that it doesn’t just aim to be Windows-like, as some distributions do, but actually be The Windows desktop environment that runs on top of the Linux kernel.
It’s called Loss32 (a pun on the ‘Win32’ API) and it’s the brainchild of a Japanese developer, Hikari no Yume, who pitched the idea at the 39th Chaos Communication Congress (in Germany late last year).
The central concept is described by the developer as follows: “A dream of a Linux distribution where the entire desktop environment is Win32 software running under WINE. A completely free and open source OS where you can just download .exe files and run them, for the power user who is not necessarily a Unixhead, or just for someone who thinks this sounds fun.”
What you essentially have is a Windows interface running via WINE (not the alcoholic beverage, but a runtime environment for running Windows apps natively on Linux) sitting on top of the Linux kernel.
This is markedly different from the current Linux effort on the Windows front, which includes Linux distros capable of running Windows apps – it goes much further. In the end, Loss32 is the entire caboodle of Windows – File Explorer and so on – put on top of Linux.
It is also different from ReactOS, although this is a similar idea in terms of being ‘Windows without Microsoft’. However, the developer notes, “ReactOS attempts to reimplement the Windows NT kernel, and that has always been its Achilles’ heel, holding it back from a hardware compatibility and stability standpoint.
“The Loss32 concept is to achieve an end result similar to ReactOS, but built on a more usable foundation using components known to work well (the Linux kernel, WINE, everything that glues them together, and a sprinkling of ReactOS userland news).”
The developer has promised that an initial proof-of-concept for the distro will arrive sometime in January 2026, so in the next few weeks, but there’s obviously a long way to go from there to any possible fruition of this project.
Analysis: losing impression
In short, Loss32 would be just like using a Windows PC, except you’d actually be running a Linux distro (below, though you wouldn’t know that – well, hopefully, and I’ll return to that point in a moment).
In theory, that would mean Windows without any of the Microsoft nonsense, such as telemetry (data on your system sent back to the company’s servers), nag screens and so on. And given that Loss32 is actually still Linux, you could also run Linux apps on this OS if you wanted to.
Of course, it’s not quite as simple as that (it never is). The problem is that the actual implementation of Windows elements can be lopsided via WINE, and glitchy or sluggish. As the developer acknowledges, it has a lot of unfortunate rough edges that people only tolerate because they use VIN as a last resort.
Although of course some people will point out that Microsoft’s original implementation of the interface in Windows 11 is flawed anyway, and in some ways they have a very good point (cough, File Explorer, cough).
In any case, there would be a lot to hammer out with this project, to say the least, and as for the potential arrival time of a finished distro, the developer’s brief comment is, “God only knows.” However, the hope is that the development of Loss32 itself, a “desktop environment where everything runs in WINE, will stimulate making WINE better for everyone, whether they need to use this project or not”.
Loss32 is more of a distant curiosity than anything else for now. But the basic idea—and the overall momentum behind Linux, fueled lately by SteamOS, Proton and Valve’s Steam Deck (plus other handhelds), and the incoming Steam Machine—may be another seed being planted for the great Linux uprising.
However, talk of the Linux revolution has been going on seemingly forever, which has inevitably led to skepticism as to whether we will ever witness such an event. But given the hostility towards Windows 11 at the moment – and the venomous potshots being taken at Microsoft for its relentless push for more AI, including the trending barb that is ‘Microslop’ – it increasingly feels like Linux has an opportunity to mount a meaningful challenge to the dominant desktop OS.
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