Need to run Windows or Android apps on Linux? This new release makes it easy

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• AnduinOS V2.0 is now available.
• The latest version uses a full Wayland stack.
• It's now even easier to run Windows and Android apps.

There's a Linux distribution for everyone and everything. If you're a developer, gamer, average user, systems administrator, creator, or a combination thereof, you'll find a distribution that's perfectly geared toward your needs.

But what if you need a Linux distribution that makes using Windows and Android apps easier? Well, I have a distribution that's right up your alley.

Also: When Windows 10 support runs out, you have 5 options but only 2 are worth considering

Out of the box, AnduinOS makes installing and running Windows apps easy. As far as Android apps, run a script, install an app, and you'll find a full-blown Android environment ready to use.

What is AnduinOS?

AnduinOS is a custom Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that offers a "familiar and easy-to-use experience for anyone moving to Linux," according to the AnduinOS website. I've covered AnduinOS before and found it to make the transition from Windows to Linux easy. The latest iteration smooths out any issues found in previous releases, and because it now uses Wayland, the secret sauce (below) is even better.

AnduinOS uses the GNOME desktop environment that has been customized to look and feel more like Windows, so you won't have to worry about any sort of learning curve on the desktop front. Click the Start button (which is the AnduinOS icon), and you'll see all of your installed applications.

AnduinOS was created by a Microsoft engineer, so you can be sure the developer knows Windows well enough to craft a desktop distro that will feel instantly familiar.

Preinstalled software

This particular distro doesn't ship with a ton of preinstalled software. You'll get Firefox, the Geary email client, a music player, a video player, and some utilities. That's it. You do get GNOME Software with Flathub integration built in, so there's plenty of apps to install.

Also: I converted this Mini PC from Windows to Linux, and it came alive. Here's how

There's also a bit of secret sauce under the hood. But before you get to that point, there's something during the onboarding you'll want to take care of.

The secret sauce

During the onboarding of AnduinOS (after you've installed the OS), you'll be greeted by a screen that allows you to enable running Windows apps with ease. Make sure to click Enable Windows Compatibility Sandbox.

If you skip this the first time around, just rerun the Welcome app and you can try again. 

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

Once you've done that, continue with the onboarding process and, when finished, log in to your desktop. After that, you can download a Windows app installer (an .exe file) and double-click it. You'll then be prompted to Install and Configure the Windows Compatibility Environment. Click Install and Configure to continue.

This will appear after you attempt to install a Windows app from a downloaded installer file.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

After the compatibility environment is installed, you'll then be greeted by the installation wizard for the app you downloaded. You only have to install the compatibility environment one time; after that, you'll see the installer wizard after double-clicking the downloaded file.

The Notepad++ install wizard.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

I tested this by installing Notepad++, and the installation went off without a hitch. In fact, it was even easier than installing it with Wine on another distribution.

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If you forget to enable the Windows side of things during the onboarding, you can also open the AnduinOS Welcome Center, and walk through it again and enable it then.

Android apps

Sadly, I mistakenly assumed that Waydroid was installed on AnduinOS by default. It was not. However, getting it up and running is incredibly easy on this distro. This is because the latest iteration of AnduinOS is full-on Wayland, which means Waydroid works to perfection. All you have to do is issue the following two commands:

curl -s https://repo.waydro.id | sudo bash

sudo apt-get install waydroid -y

When the installation finishes, click the Waydroid icon from within the start menu, and the Android environment opens, where you can start using it immediately. I've installed Waydroid on other distros, and none of them went as smoothly as it did on AnduinOS. 

This should look familiar to any Android user.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

Another cool thing about Waydroid is that it runs as an app, so you can minimize it and go back to the desktop anytime you want.

Beyond Windows and Android

Looking at Anduin as a standard Linux desktop distribution, I can say that it runs as well as any other. Performance is on par with most distros, stability is solid, apps install easily (even Ollama local AI), and it's simple to customize/configure (thanks to the addition of the Anduin Appearance app and the GNOME Settings app). It is still GNOME, so the customization of the look is limited in comparison to the likes of KDE Plasma or COSMIC, but the experience you get out of the box will most likely be suited to most users.

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AnduinOS is a Linux distribution that should make anyone feel right at home. It's like Linux, Android, and Windows had a baby, and it's ready for you to care for and feed it.