HomeDocumentation
Download ISO

From Windows to SegLinux: how each piece maps

SegLinux rebuilds the Windows installation experience on Linux (Artix packages, without systemd). This table maps every part of a Windows ISO and of Windows Setup (see windows-iso-anatomy.md) onto what SegLinux uses instead, and where it lives in this repository.

The installation media

Windows SegLinux Where
UDF image built with oscdimg ISO 9660 hybrid image (CD and USB) built by Artix's buildiso with xorriso iso/build.sh
El Torito BIOS entry: etfsboot.com → bootmgr → \boot\bcd El Torito BIOS entry: GRUB (i386-pc) → live boot menu artix-grub-live (livefs)
El Torito UEFI entry: efisys.bin → \efi\boot\bootx64.efi → BCD EFI FAT image with GRUB's BOOTX64.EFI → the same menu artix-grub-live (livefs)
sources\boot.wim index 2 (Windows PE + Setup) loaded into a RAM disk vmlinuz + live initramfs (iso-initcpio hooks) mounting LiveOS/rootfs.img + LiveOS/livefs.img as an overlay iso/iso-profiles/seglinux/profile.yaml
sources\install.wim / install.esd LiveOS/rootfs.img, a squashfs of the system to install rootfs: in profile.yaml
Editions (WIM indexes: Home, Pro, ...) ISO profiles (one profile.yaml each) iso/iso-profiles/
sources\setup.exe seglinux-setup (text-mode wizard or unattended) crates/seglinux-setup
autounattend.xml at the media root autounattend.toml at the media root crates/seglinux-setup/autounattend.example.toml
sources\$OEM$\ seglinux/oem/ on the media, copied over the new system [oem] path
Drivers/updates for offlineServicing seglinux/packages/*.pkg.tar.zst on the media, installed with pacman -U in the new system [oem] packages
Windows RE The live ISO itself (boot it to repair) and the fallback initramfs
Secure Boot-signed boot chain Not signed: disable Secure Boot (see building.md)

Setup

seglinux-setup computes a complete plan before touching the disk and runs it in the same passes as Windows Setup (seglinux-setup plan --unattend prints it):

Windows Setup SegLinux Setup
windowsPE: DiskConfiguration with diskpart GPT layout written with sfdisk: ESP (512 MiB), BIOS boot (1 MiB), swap (optional), root. One disk boots on both UEFI and legacy BIOS.
MSR partition BIOS boot partition (GRUB's core image on GPT disks)
Pagefile Compressed swap in RAM (zram) sized from memory, like a "system managed" page file; a swap partition on request
windowsPE: ImageInstall, DISM /Apply-Image unsquashfs -f -d /mnt/seglinux LiveOS/rootfs.img
bcdboot C:\Windows grub-install (UEFI entry named like the answer file's [bootloader] id, plus the removable \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI fallback) and grub-mkconfig; os-prober adds Windows to the menu
offlineServicing OEM files and offline packages
specialize: computer name, International-Core, RunSynchronous /etc/fstab (UUIDs chosen in advance), host name, locale, keyboard (console, X11, Plasma), time zone and hardware clock, machine ID, initramfs, boot manager, services, [[run]] pass = "specialize"
ComputerName * → DESKTOP-XXXXXXX [computer] name = "auto" → DESKTOP-XXXXXXX
oobeSystem: UserAccounts Users created with useradd; administrators join wheel and may use sudo
Built-in Administrator account disabled root locked unless the answer file sets a password
AutoLogon [[users]] autologin = true → greetd's initial_session
SetupComplete.cmd Executables in /etc/seglinux/setupcomplete.d/ and [[run]] pass = "setup-complete"; failures are logged, not fatal
Panther\setupact.log, setuperr.log /var/log/seglinux/setupact.log, setuperr.log (copied into the new system)
Implicit answer file search Command line → seglinux.unattend= kernel parameter → media root → root of other removable drives → /etc/seglinux/autounattend.toml
Setup starts by itself when autounattend.xml is found [setup] auto_start = true starts the unattended installation when the live desktop comes up
Hardware requirement checks x86-64, a disk of at least 20 GiB, not the install media; the plan refuses anything else

The installed system

Windows SegLinux
Action Center, notifications, the notification area (system tray) Notification pop-ups and history (Do not disturb) and other applications' tray icons, in the dock's tray (see desktop.md)
Sign-in screen (LogonUI) seglinux-greeter on greetd: clock, accounts, password, the desktop to start, sleep, restart and shut down (see desktop.md)
Desktop, taskbar, Start menu The SegLinux Rust shell on labwc: a floating dock with Start, pinned programs (Dolphin, Brave, the kitty terminal, Steam), running windows, quick settings and clock. KDE Plasma with the org.seglinux.desktop layout is the fallback session
Settings (Win+I), Personalization, Mouse, Keyboard SegLinux Settings (Super+I): theme, accent, wallpaper, dock, clock, window focus and workspaces, keyboard layouts, mouse and touchpad, gaming; applied at once (see desktop.md)
Virtual desktops (Win+Ctrl+Left/Right) labwc workspaces, with the same shortcut; their number is set in Settings
Xbox app / Game Bar, Game Mode Steam, Lutris, MangoHud, GameMode and the SegLinux Gaming Mode session (see gaming.md)
Window buttons (minimize, maximize, close on the right), Alt+Tab thumbnails KWin defaults in /etc/xdg/kwinrc
File Explorer, Notepad, Calculator, Snipping Tool, Photos, Task Manager, Disk Management Dolphin, Kate, KCalc, Spectacle, Gwenview, System Monitor, Partition Manager
Microsoft Store Discover with Flathub (Flatpak)
Windows Update sudo seglinux-update (see updating.md) or Discover
Edge, Office, Media Player Brave, LibreOffice, VLC
Network places and sharing (SMB) Dolphin smb://, folder sharing via kdenetwork-filesharing
Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, Calibri Metric-compatible Liberation and Carlito fonts
Services (services.msc) OpenRC or dinit services (chosen when the ISO is built)
Double-clicking an .exe, .msi, .lnk or .bat segrun via the desktop's file associations; ./program.exe in a terminal via binfmt_misc
C:\, Program Files, the registry One Wine prefix per "Windows environment", segrun prefix open, segrun tool regedit
Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs segrun tool control, "Add or Remove Windows Programs" in the menu
DirectX DXVK (Direct3D 9/10/11) and VKD3D-Proton (Direct3D 12) over Vulkan, picked automatically from the program's imports

What does not carry over

← All guides · Download SegLinux →