Can a PC with a Linux OS (no Windows) run Windows .exe programs?
Linux users have the option of using WINE to run Windows Executable files without the Windows OS installed. However, the number of apps that it works with is limited. As far as the virus or malware threat goes, it’s pretty limited since there is no Windows system to infect it simply won’t work. Security researchers routinely use Linux, MacOS and virtual machines to examine Windows malware with nearly complete safety, which helps them counter the threat quickly. There is a theoretical risk that a nasty app may be targeting Linux (for example) but uses the .exe extension so as to pretend to be a Windows app. Still, the risk of infection is low; few Linux people would run it at all once they recognized the extension. Malware generally does not target the most scattered, obscure users but instead attempts to infect the maximum number of computers before countermeasures render it ineffective.
