# Try Omarchy for Windows: run the Omarchy desktop in a QEMU window

> A Go launcher that puts Arch and Omarchy 4.0.3 into a WHPX-accelerated QEMU window on Windows 10 and 11. The setup is unusually self-contained, but the release is still marked preview and host coverage is thin.

**omacom/try-omarchy-windows** — Use Omarchy Linux on Windows without any hassle.

- Repository: https://github.com/omacom/try-omarchy-windows
- Website: https://tryomarchy.com
- Stars: 521 · Forks: 56
- Language: Go
- License: MIT
- Published: 2026-09-17 · Updated: 2026-09-17 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/omacom-try-omarchy-windows

## What Try Omarchy for Windows actually solves

The usual route to a Linux desktop on a Windows machine is a virtual machine you assemble yourself: install VirtualBox or VMware, find an Arch ISO, partition a virtual disk, install a bootloader, then install Hyprland and the rest of Omarchy by hand. Try Omarchy for Windows collapses that into one executable. The README describes the goal directly: "Run the full Omarchy desktop in a window on Windows 10 or 11. No VMware, no VirtualBox, no dual boot." Everything lives in one folder chosen on first run, with %LOCALAPPDATA%\TryOmarchy as the default, so there is no partition and no bootloader change. The audience is someone who wants to see what Omarchy feels like, or to keep it around as a second desktop, without giving up the Windows install underneath. It is a try-before-you-commit tool, not a replacement workstation.

## QEMU on WHPX with virgl and Venus on the host GPU

The architecture is a translated version of the macOS try-omarchy recipe: QEMU plus a hypervisor plus VirGL. On Windows the hypervisor is the Windows Hypervisor Platform, the same platform WSL2 uses, which the README notes works on both Windows Home and Pro without enabling the Hyper-V role. The guest is x86_64 Arch with Omarchy baked in, booted by direct kernel boot: vmlinuz, initramfs and a raw ext4 rootfs attached on virtio-blk. The README records the proven boot recipe as `-accel whpx -machine q35 -cpu qemu64`, with all-virtio devices and DirectSound audio. Graphics go through virtio-gpu with virgl and Venus Vulkan via WINQ-EMU, so Hyprland renders on the host GPU; when that path is unavailable the app falls back to CPU rendering with llvmpipe. The Go binary is the supervisor: it detects GPU versus CPU rendering, handles a known WHPX launch wedge, relaunches the guest after an in-guest reboot and cleans up on poweroff. Clipboard sharing is a compositor-native bridge over wl-clipboard rather than SPICE, and folder sharing uses virtio-9p.

## Installing Try Omarchy for Windows and booting into Hyprland

The project ships a single executable, so installation is a download. The README points at the latest release asset and its checksum file. Verify the hash before running it, since the app will later download a GPU runtime and a guest image on your behalf.

```bash
curl -LO https://github.com/omacom/try-omarchy-windows/releases/latest/download/TryOmarchy.exe
curl -LO https://github.com/omacom/try-omarchy-windows/releases/latest/download/TryOmarchy.exe.sha256
certutil -hashfile TryOmarchy.exe SHA256
```

The third command prints the SHA256 of the file you downloaded; compare it with the contents of the .sha256 file before you open the executable.

First run asks where the data should live, keeping %LOCALAPPDATA%\TryOmarchy as the default or letting you pick another local drive or folder. It then switches on the Windows Hypervisor Platform, which the README says costs one permission prompt and one restart, downloads the SHA256-verified GPU runtime and image, and boots into Omarchy's setup form. That form offers either an instant trial account or the normal personalized account setup; instant mode keeps `omarchy` as both the local username and the lock-screen password, shows it on the setup splash and repeats it once on the first desktop, with passwordless sudo in what the README calls a disposable local trial. After setup, the app keeps a stable launcher in the chosen folder and can add optional Start-menu and Desktop shortcuts.

The two keys worth learning first are SUPER+SPACE for the Omarchy menu and SUPER+K for the keybinding viewer. Ctrl+Alt+F fullscreens the VM window on the Windows desktop, and Ctrl+Alt+G grabs or releases raw keyboard input when the host steals a shortcut you meant for Omarchy.

## Where the preview build is thin

The release is still v0.0.19-preview and the README says the project is working toward v1, with remaining release gates tracked in docs/V1-READINESS.md. Physical acceptance currently centers on an AMD Windows 11 laptop, and the README states plainly that broader host coverage remains open. So the tested configuration is narrower than the supported-sounding claim of Windows 10 or 11. If your machine is Intel, or a desktop with a discrete GPU, or an older Windows 10 install, you are outside the configuration the project describes as physically accepted. Two functional gaps are also documented. Dropping files directly into arbitrary guest applications is listed as unfinished, so drag and drop is not a general-purpose file path into the guest; folder sharing over virtio-9p is the supported route. And the instant trial account is disposable by design, with passwordless sudo, which makes it unsuitable for anything you care about keeping. There is also no rollback procedure in the README: the app changes a Windows feature (the Hypervisor Platform) on first run, and the documentation does not describe how to undo that.

## How it differs from WSL2 and from a hand-built VM

WSL2 is the obvious alternative for running Linux on Windows, and it comes from Microsoft with no separate download. The difference in approach is what runs inside the hypervisor. WSL2 runs individual Linux distributions as headless environments integrated into the Windows shell; there is no Wayland compositor, no Hyprland, and no GPU-rendered Linux desktop in a branded window. Try Omarchy for Windows boots a full Arch system with the Omarchy desktop, so you get the actual Hyprland session, the bar, notifications, the 22 themes and the screensavers. That is the point of the project: not Linux tooling on Windows, but the Omarchy desktop experience. The other comparison is the macOS try-omarchy project, which the README names as the same recipe on a different hypervisor. That one uses the Apple Hypervisor Framework and an ARM64 guest; this one uses WHPX and x86_64. The README also notes that PowerShell scripts remain in the repository as a fallback path behind the Go executable.

## Licence, maintenance and upgrade cost

The repository is MIT licensed, which permits commercial and private use, modification and redistribution provided the copyright notice and permission notice are included. The last push was on 2026-09-16, and the most recent release, v0.0.19-preview, is dated 2026-09-16, so the project is being worked on now. That cuts both ways: preview releases at this cadence mean the guest image and the app can both change between versions, and the README ties the current release to Omarchy 4.0.3 specifically. Upgrading is not a package manager operation on your side; the app downloads a SHA256-verified image, so the upgrade cost is mostly re-downloading the runtime and image and re-checking the checksum. One licensing detail deserves attention: the README states that the Omarchy mark in the app icon comes from the official Omarchy brand kit and remains subject to Omarchy's trademark rights. MIT covers the code in this repository, not the Omarchy name or mark, so redistributing a build with that icon is a separate question from the code licence. This is a description of what the README says, not legal advice.

## Conclusion

Adopt Try Omarchy for Windows if you want to evaluate the Omarchy desktop without partitioning a disk, and you accept a preview build whose acceptance testing centers on one AMD Windows 11 laptop. Skip it if you need a supported, stable Linux environment, if your host is not x86_64 Windows 10 or 11, or if you need to drop files into arbitrary guest applications, which the README lists as unfinished. Before committing, verify that WSL2 or the Windows Hypervisor Platform already runs on your machine, check the SHA256 of TryOmarchy.exe against the published .sha256 file, and read docs/COMPATIBILITY.md for the packages and limitations that apply to your workload.

## FAQ

### What are the system requirements for Try Omarchy for Windows?

Windows 10 or 11 on x86_64, with the Windows Hypervisor Platform available; the README notes WHPX works on both Home and Pro and that if WSL2 runs on your machine you are set. The project's physical acceptance currently centers on an AMD Windows 11 laptop.

### How do I try Linux on Windows with Try Omarchy?

Download TryOmarchy.exe from the latest release, verify it against the published SHA256 file, and open it. First run asks where to store data, enables the Windows Hypervisor Platform with one permission prompt and one restart, then downloads the GPU runtime and image and boots into Omarchy's setup form.

### How do I manually install Omarchy, and does Try Omarchy do that for me?

Try Omarchy for Windows does not ask you to install Omarchy by hand. The README describes a prebuilt Arch image with Omarchy baked in, built by a reproducible containerized guest image build with a pinned Omarchy revision, which the app downloads and boots.

### Can I run Windows on Omarchy with this project?

No. The direction is the opposite: this project runs the Omarchy Linux desktop inside a window on Windows 10 or 11 using QEMU on the Windows Hypervisor Platform. The README does not describe running Windows inside Omarchy.

## Sources

- [License: MIT](https://github.com/omacom/try-omarchy-windows/blob/master/LICENSE)
- [omacom/try-omarchy-windows on GitHub](https://github.com/omacom/try-omarchy-windows)
- [Project website](https://tryomarchy.com)
- [README](https://github.com/omacom/try-omarchy-windows/blob/master/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/omacom/try-omarchy-windows/releases)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/omacom-try-omarchy-windows