Install Windows Apps and games on Ubuntu using Bottles

Running Windows applications or games in Linux is easier nowadays. You can watch Netflix on Linux, You can run Microsoft Office on Linux, web-based though and other applications. However, you might require a specific way to run some particular windows applications. A few of them are:

• WINE is a compatibility layer that lets you run Windows applications on Linux without the Windows software.
• Virtual Machines like Virtualbox and VMware Workstation or KVM.
• Dual Booting where you can just boot from the Windows OS.

The other way to run windows applications on Linux is by using Bottles. Bottles is an application that allows you to easily manage Windows Prefixes on any Linux distribution using runners. Windows prefixes are environments or paths on a host computer which software packages are installed under. Runners are the compatibility layers that enable Windows applications to run on a Linux System. There are 2 types of runners namely, Wine and Proton.

Features of Bottles

• Preconfigured Gaming environment to support large sets of Windows games.
• Has built-in libraries and dependencies on the environments.
• Highly customizable to fit your identity.
• Integrated dependency manager.
• Versioning Manager that allows easy restore to the previous version.
• Sandboxed making it safely isolated from the system.
• Supports DXVK Vulkan renderer and other such utilities that can improve the performance of apps and games.

Bottles can be installed via AppImage, Flatpack, AUR package, Snap, or .deb package. Other unofficial packages include MX-Linux, Fedora, and Building from the source.

This guide will show you how to install Windows Apps and games on Ubuntu Using Bottles.

Install Bottles using Flatpak on Ubuntu

Update your system packages

sudo apt update &&  sudo apt upgrade -y

Check if a reboot is required on the system:

[ -f /var/run/reboot-required ] && sudo reboot -f

Step 1. Install Flatpak package

To install flatpak, use the following command.

sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Then reboot your system manually or use the following command.

sudo reboot

Step 2. Install bottles using Flatpak

Run the next commands below to install Bottles with flatpak commands:

$ flatpak install flathub com.usebottles.bottles
....
Looking for matches…
Required runtime for com.usebottles.bottles/x86_64/stable (runtime/org.gnome.Platform/x86_64/42) found in remote flathub
Do you want to install it? [Y/n]: y

com.usebottles.bottles permissions:
    ipc                     network                        pulseaudio         wayland
    x11                     devices                        devel              multiarch
    dbus access [1]         system dbus access [2]

    [1] org.freedesktop.Notifications
    [2] org.freedesktop.UDisks2

        ID                                           Branch          Op    Remote     Download
 1. [✓] com.usebottles.bottles.Locale                stable          i     flathub        7.0 kB / 491.8 kB
 2. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default          21.08           i     flathub      131.0 MB / 131.3 MB
 3. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.GL32.default        21.08           i     flathub      109.1 MB / 138.6 MB
 4. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg-full         21.08           i     flathub        4.1 MB / 4.2 MB
 5. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg_full.i386    21.08           i     flathub        4.1 MB / 4.3 MB
 6. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264            2.0             i     flathub        1.5 MB / 1.5 MB

Then launch it from the terminal using the following command.

flatpak run com.usebottles.bottles

Or launch from the application launcher.

Step 3. Launch Bottles Emulator on Ubuntu

The application once installed looks like this. Click on Next.

Then it will show you what a runner is, Click on Next to install a runner to enable us to create a bottle environment.

The installation is successful and the following screen is shown.

Step 4: Create a new environment using Bottles

You can download the Windows executable file that you want to install on Linux. I want to install Notepadd++ which is a .exe file on Linux.

To create a new environment on Bottles, Click Create a new Bottle. Select the type of software you want to install either Gaming, application, or Can customize your own configuration. I selected Application, then input the name and click Create.

The configuration will happen automatically as shown below.

Once done, the following screen appears.

Click on the > arrow to open a screen as shown below

Then click on the Run executable to install the windows application. Select from your system the application you want to run and it will install as shown below. In my case, I will install Notepad++.

Conclusion

From this guide, we have learned about the Bottles application and how to install it on Ubuntu. We have also seen how to configure it to install windows applications and games on Ubuntu. Bottles can run on any Linux distribution which will enable users, especially those who have migrated from the Windows Operating system, to still familiarize themselves with the Windows applications on Linux.

Other articles to check on this website:

• How To Install and Use Wine on Solus Linux
• Install and Use Wine on KDE Neon / Kubuntu
• Install and Configure Kodi on KDE Neon / Kubuntu