Re:_Proposal_—_Seamless_Windows_Application_Virtua lization_via_bhyve

But your idea makes perfect sense, now that I think about it. Maybe my idea
would have been difficult to put into practice.

8 Ağu 2026 Cmt 13:39 tarihinde Asiye Sarıyıldız <asiyee994@gmail.com> şunu
yazdı:

> I haven't yet considered how to resolve the licensing issue; if we were to
> implement something like WSL2, it shouldn't come pre-installed the user
> would need to download the ISO or a similar file themselves.
>
> 8 Ağu 2026 Cmt 13:35 tarihinde Asiye Sarıyıldız <asiyee994@gmail.com>
> şunu yazdı:
>
>> 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.
>>>
>>