Bootbox is a Good Tools development project for opening Linux and Windows 11 Arm desktops inside a native Mac app. This November 4 note covers work built and checked November 2–3, 2026. It records a private evaluation milestone rather than a public release.
Two desktops, one starting point
The start screen offers Boot Linux and Boot Windows 11. Each desktop opens inside the Bootbox window, with full-screen controls and a Home action. Returning Home keeps the running desktop available to resume; signing out or shutting down asks the guest system to stop normally and returns to the starting screen.
Desktop storage lives outside the application and can be placed on a suitable external SSD. Replacing the app does not require replacing those desktop files. Linux setup prepares its desktop environment; Windows setup requires the user’s own official Windows 11 Arm64 installation image and Windows licence. This is a Mac host application, not a new Windows-native edition.
Bring files and text into the desktop
Mac files and folders can be dropped into a running desktop or chosen through Drop Files. Windows imports are copied to its local Imported Files location, where large archives can be worked on locally. Linux imports use Shared Files. The original Mac files remain in place, and colliding names receive numbered suffixes.
The Windows transfer path splits larger imports into smaller chunks and checks the completed file. A recorded 300 MiB two-chunk test completed with matching source and destination hashes. These are local implementation checks, not a claim that every file size, disk, or workflow has been validated.
Host clipboard text is read for an explicit Paste action. File sharing exposes the selected Shared folder rather than automatically sharing all Mac documents.
Keep disk ownership checks useful
The private 0.4.3 package includes a disk-use guard that distinguishes read-only backup handles from another writable virtual-machine session. A read-only backup no longer causes the same refusal as a competing writer; write, read/write, and unknown access remain blocked.
The recorded checks cover a closed disk, a read-only backup, read/write access, combined reader and writer access, and a saved Windows desktop boot while a read-only backup continued. The guard is intended to preserve a single writable session, not to permit opening one desktop in two virtual-machine apps at once.
Automatic pointer handling in the installed 0.4.4 build
The November 3 installed build replaces the manual Game Mouse control with automatic handling based on the guest cursor’s visibility. It draws one guest pointer, uses relative movement when the guest hides its pointer, and releases that mode when the pointer leaves the desktop or the window loses focus. Command–Escape remains an explicit way to release input.
The current code avoids forcing the Mac pointer to a new position or locking it to a recentered location. Windows boot, the updated toolbar, and an automatic-mode activation event were verified locally. Physical pointer smoothness, compatibility across guest applications, and automatic return still need hands-on validation. Accelerated 3D workflows are not established by these checks.
Build dates and availability
The installed app is version 0.4.4, build 8, built November 3, 2026. Its executable matches the recorded local verification result. The existing private disk image and review-source archive are version 0.4.3, packaged November 2 in Saskatchewan; they have not been refreshed with the installed 0.4.4 changes.
The checked builds use local ad hoc signing and are not notarized public releases. Local work was exercised on an Apple silicon Mac running macOS 27.2; a fresh Windows installation on another Mac remains unverified. The current source, installed app, and older package are different verification states.
No Bootbox download, public GitHub release, store listing, or open tester programme is being launched with this note. The link below leads to the Good Tools apps already listed on the site.