I dunno ablut easily. If you just have some random exe installer Bottles is not super helpful. Probably easier if your software is in the Bottles catalogue.
I dunno ablut easily. If you just have some random exe installer Bottles is not super helpful. Probably easier if your software is in the Bottles catalogue.
It has a literal "run executable" button. How much easier so you think it could get?
But that just runs the installer. What about the program that is then installed? I remember this being a bit of a hassle, and not having a super great UX. It works, by all means, but it's just a lot worse than Windows, which is admittedly a lofty standard for exes.
After running the installer (or any exe) bottles scans the registry for certain keys (I don't know the specifics) and if it finds that new programs have been installed, it automatically adds an entry under "Programs" in the Bottles UI (which is under the "run executable" button).
You also have the option to manually add installed executables under the "Programs" section, or into the "Library" section (Library is global, programs is per-bottle-sandbox)
Bottles is absolutely fine for random exes...
Yes - it's not entirely preconfigured for you like the recipes in their catalogues, but most runners work just fine for general windows applications.
I have thrown several bottles together just to run plain ol' exe installers, and they absolutely work, in about the least effort you can put in for this sort of thing (entirely GUI based, mostly click 3 buttons and go).
ex - I have a bottle for running victron VEConfigure 3 to configure solar inverters. A bottle for running Carbide Create for Carbide 3D. A bottle for running windows CAD software. Lots of random things.