Re:_Proposal_—_Seamless_Windows_Application_Virtua lization_via_bhyve

Thanks for the feedback Actually what I had in mind is closer to how WSL2
works on Windows: it runs a real Linux kernel inside a lightweight Hyper-V
VM, but the user never manages the VM directly  file sharing, networking,
and even GUI apps (via WSLg) are fully integrated, so it feels native.
I'd love something like that for FreeBSD + Windows apps: bhyve running a
minimal Windows VM in the background, but the user just does qemu-bhyve
install adobe and interacts with the app almost like a native FreeBSD
program — no manual VM management, no VNC. Your container/jail idea for
file access sounds like a great way to get part of that seamlessness
without needing full window integration.
Regular Wine can't run Adobe or Teams reliably because of missing Win32 API
coverage, which is exactly why I think a real Windows kernel (even a
minimal one) is needed rather than translation

8 Ağu 2026 Cmt 13:18 tarihinde Mario Marietto <marietto2008@gmail.com> şunu
yazdı:

> >Yes, I know about Wine, but Wine tries to replicate Windows APIs which
> often causes compatibility >bugs or performance overhead. My idea with
> bhyve was closer to a lightweight virtualized Windows >kernel operating in
> the background, where the GUI windows are seamlessly integrated into the
> >FreeBSD desktop environment (like seamless mode in VirtualBox or WSLg in
> Linux). I thought bhyve >could achieve better raw hardware compatibility
> for specific professional Windows apps. Example
> >Adobe
>
> Your idea is intriguing me,but probably not in the same way you are
> thinking about it. In my vision I would keep the way wine works almost
> intact,but I would use plane bhyve or qemu accelerated with bhyve instead
> of wine,so that we can have something like this :
>
> qemu-bhyve install or run "application".
>
> The tool (for example Adobe) will be installed inside a sandbox after
> having issued "install" or it can be run in the same way. And you can have
> direct access to the files installed without accessing inside the vm with
> vnc viewer,but easier,we can install a container (podman ? a jail ? ). It
> sounds nice to me.
>
> ERRATA CORRIGE : we can install the desired tool directly inside a
> container (podman ? a jail ? sshfs-win ?
>
>
> https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/windows-drive-mapping-to-freebsd-directory-fails-with-sshfs-win.96474/
>
> What do you think ?
>
> On Sat, Aug 8, 2026 at 12:32 PM Asiye Sarıyıldız <asiyee994@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Yes, I know about Wine, but Wine tries to replicate Windows APIs which
>> often causes compatibility bugs or performance overhead. My idea with bhyve
>> was closer to a lightweight virtualized Windows kernel operating in the
>> background, where the GUI windows are seamlessly integrated into the
>> FreeBSD desktop environment (like seamless mode in VirtualBox or WSLg in
>> Linux). I thought bhyve could achieve better raw hardware compatibility for
>> specific professional Windows apps. Example Adobe
>>
>> 8 Ağu 2026 Cmt 11:30 tarihinde Mario Marietto <marietto2008@gmail.com>
>> şunu yazdı:
>>
>>> ---> have you tried wine11?
>>>
>>> I think he wants to "duplicate" the look and feel and the exterior
>>> working of wine,but using bhyve at the place of wine ? Did I understand
>>> correctly ?
>>>
>>> On Sat, Aug 8, 2026 at 12:17 PM Tomek CEDRO <tomek@cedro.info> wrote:
>>>
>>>> have you tried wine11?
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> CeDeROM, SQ7MHZ, http://www.tomek.cedro.info
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Aug 8, 2026, 00:22 Asiye Sarıyıldız <asiyee994@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I've been thinking about a potential enhancement to bhyve that could
>>>>> make Windows application compatibility much smoother for FreeBSD desktop
>>>>> users.
>>>>> Currently, running Windows applications (e.g., Adobe products)
>>>>> requires manually setting up a full Windows VM in bhyve — creating disk
>>>>> images, configuring UEFI/BIOS, installing drivers, and manually managing
>>>>> the guest OS. This works, but it's a heavy, manual process compared to
>>>>> solutions like Wine/Proton on Linux or Parallels' seamless mode on macOS.
>>>>> What if bhyve offered a more automated, "appliance-style" workflow:
>>>>> the user supplies their own Windows installation ISO (and their own
>>>>> license), and bhyve handles VM provisioning, NT kernel boot configuration,
>>>>> and required virtio/driver setup automatically — with minimal manual steps.
>>>>> Since the user brings their own ISO and license, this avoids any licensing
>>>>> or redistribution concerns on the project's side. Ideally, this could
>>>>> eventually extend toward seamless window integration (running individual
>>>>> Windows apps like Adobe software without exposing the full Windows
>>>>> desktop), similar to what VMware Fusion or Parallels offer on macOS.
>>>>> I understand this raises real challenges — driver signing, GPU
>>>>> passthrough for apps like Adobe's Creative Suite, and the significant
>>>>> engineering effort seamless integration would require compared to a
>>>>> standard full-VM setup.
>>>>> Is this something the core team has considered, or is it already
>>>>> covered by existing tools (e.g., vm-bhyve, or work in progress)? I'd
>>>>> appreciate your perspective on whether this is a realistic direction for
>>>>> bhyve, or whether the complexity outweighs the benefit compared to just
>>>>> using a standard full VM setup.
>>>>> Thank you for your time and for your work on FreeBSD.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mario.
>>>
>>
>
> --
> Mario.
>
>
> --
> Mario.
>