microsoft/wslg
Wslg
wslg is an integration layer and display server system designed to run Linux graphical applications on Windows. It provides a bridge between Linux window management, audio routing, and system clipboards and the Windows host, utilizing a Wayland and X11 display server to support visual software.
The system utilizes a virtual GPU architecture to provide hardware-accelerated rendering for graphics-intensive applications. It implements a Remote Desktop Protocol gateway to stream graphical frames and uses a specialized sound server interface to route audio and microphone data between the Linux guest and the host.
Additional capabilities include the synchronization of text and data across operating systems via a shared memory clipboard and the registration of application manifests to create native launch shortcuts in the host system menu.
Features
- Display Compositors - Implements a display compositor that manages window placement and input routing for Linux applications on Windows via Wayland and X11.
- Graphical Application Runtimes - Provides a runtime environment that enables Linux graphical applications to execute and integrate with the Windows host window manager.
- Linux Compatibility Layers - Acts as a compatibility layer that integrates Linux window management and clipboards into the Windows host.
- Cross-OS GUI Hosting - Runs Linux graphical applications on Windows with integration into the host window manager and taskbar.
- Virtual Audio Bridges - Routes Linux audio samples through a sound server to the host system audio devices.
- Display Protocol Compositors - Integrates a compositor that translates Wayland and X11 display protocols into a single unified output stream.
- Display Server Integrations - Provides a Wayland and X server environment to support visual Linux software on a Windows host.
- GPU Acceleration - Exposes hardware acceleration by mapping guest graphics calls to host-side GPU drivers.
- GPU-Accelerated UI Rendering - Uses virtual GPU architecture to provide hardware-accelerated UI rendering for Linux applications.
- UI Graphics Acceleration - Utilizes GPU drivers and virtual GPU architecture to accelerate the rendering of graphical user interface elements.
- Window Embedding - Uses the Remote Desktop Protocol to embed guest graphical windows directly onto the host desktop surface.
- Shared Memory Data Exchange - Synchronizes clipboard data between operating systems using high-performance shared memory buffers.
- Clipboard Synchronization - Synchronizes clipboard data across the host and guest environments to allow seamless copy and paste.
- Virtual Audio Routing - Routes audio streams from guest Linux applications to the host system via virtual audio routing.
- Guest-Host Audio Bridges - Provides a sound server interface that streams audio and microphone data between Linux guests and the Windows host.
- Remote Desktop Protocols - Uses a Remote Desktop Protocol gateway to stream graphical frames from the Linux guest to the Windows host.
- Remote Framebuffer Protocols - Implements an RDP gateway to transmit graphical display updates from the Linux guest to the host.
- Audio Streaming Servers - Implements a sound server interface to stream audio and microphone data to a remote transport.
- Host-Guest Integration Tools - Implements metadata exchange to dynamically create native host launch shortcuts for guest applications.
