News has spread online about a new distribution called Loss32: the project aims to combine the Linux kernel with a classic Windows-style desktop. The authors want Windows apps to run as smoothly as possible while keeping support for typical Linux software. The first working prototype is planned to be released to the public as early as this month. This is reported by playground.ru reports .
Conceptually, Loss32 is close to the long-running ReactOS project: both try to recreate the familiar Microsoft system experience. But Loss32 is taking a different route — it has abandoned writing a Windows NT kernel analogue from scratch. The initiators believe that this approach slows ReactOS down and causes compatibility issues with modern hardware. That’s why Loss32 relies on Debian 13 as its base and the Wine layer to run Windows applications, putting the main emphasis on the interface.
In Loss32’s architecture, many standard Linux user-space components are replaced with Wine solutions and developments taken from ReactOS. The desktop environment depends on Win32 applications and libraries — including explorer.exe and shell32.dll — while Mutter is used as the compositing manager. The design will follow the classic style popular in Microsoft products from the late 1990s to the early 2010s. As a result, users will be able to download and open EXE files as easily as on Windows.
The project’s author describes Win32 as a stable binary interface for Linux and notes that many useful programs and games exist only as Windows executables. Loss32 aims to smooth out Wine’s rough edges and create a convenient space to run such content without complex configuration. Enthusiasts hope the system will be an alternative for those who want free software but can’t give up familiar Windows apps and classic design.
If the authors later add a Windows XP-style theme, fans say it will be even more of a “vibe.”
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