It looks like Windows - so will your Windows programs run? This is the question that decides everything, and it deserves a straight answer instead of a sales pitch.
The desktop looks like home, but software is where switches succeed or fail. This page gives the honest app picture for Anduin OS: what runs natively, what runs in the browser, what Wine can and cannot do, and a five-minute test with your own program list that settles whether switching is safe for you.
Start with the wall: Windows programs do not run natively on Linux - not on Anduin OS, not on any distro. A .exe file is built for Windows, and no setting, theme or "pro" edition changes that. Any video or seller suggesting your Windows software will simply carry over is hiding this page's first paragraph from you.
What you get instead are four honest doors - and for most home users, the first two cover nearly everything.
Native Linux apps cover the daily list with quality: Firefox or Chrome for the web, LibreOffice for documents and spreadsheets, VLC for media, Thunderbird for mail, VS Code for coding, OBS for recording, and thousands more through the software center and Flatpak. Because Anduin OS sits on Ubuntu's base, the catalogue is the biggest in the Linux world.
The browser quietly solves the rest: Microsoft 365 and Google Docs run in web form, as do banking, classes, meetings and most office tools in 2026. If your work already lives in Chrome tabs, switching the system under Chrome changes almost nothing for you.
Wine is a compatibility layer that translates Windows calls into Linux ones, and the project itself lists Windows apps via Wine as a possibility. The honest grade: some Windows programs run well, some run with glitches, and many - especially newer Adobe and Microsoft desktop apps, and anything with aggressive DRM - fail or break after updates. Wine is a bonus to try per app, never a promise to plan a job around. Check your specific program's reputation in the Wine community before counting on it.
Door four is the escape hatch: keep Windows in a virtual machine or dual boot for the one stubborn program. Many switchers live happily like this - Linux for 95 percent of the day, Windows only for the one legacy tool.
That small list, made honestly, decides the switch better than any review - including the video above, which shows the app experience live so you can compare it with your own list.
Installing and using everyday apps on Anduin OS, shown on a real machine in the full video.
▶️ Watch Full VideoNo. EXE installers are Windows programs and do not run natively on any Linux system. You install Linux versions of your apps from the software center or Flatpak instead, or use web versions in the browser.
The desktop Office apps do not run natively. Microsoft 365 works in the browser, and LibreOffice opens and edits Word, Excel and PowerPoint files locally. Heavy Excel macros and exact Office formatting are the cases where keeping a Windows option is wiser.
It is a per-app gamble, not a guarantee. Older and simpler Windows tools often run well; modern Adobe or Microsoft desktop apps and DRM-protected software commonly fail. Treat Wine as a bonus to test, never as the foundation of your work.