Is it possible to run GNOME 3 on Windows XP/Vista/7?
Linux software cannot run on Windows. Cygwin provides a way to compile software designed for Unix into something that may run on Windows. I've never used it so I can't say what the limitations are, but given the existence of CyGnome I would assume it's possible.
To avoid compiling yourself you could also check out CygWin Ports which says it has a Gnome 3 port, as well as Nautilus, and Empathy. ftp://sourceware.org/pub/cygwinports/portslist.txt . I've never used it so I don't know the specifics of getting it up and running.
Alteratively you might consider using CyGnome though it's Gnome 1, not Gnome 3. http://cygnome.sourceforge.net/ They started a Gnome 2 port project, but it died. http://cygnome2.sourceforge.net/
Alternatively you might consider checking out GreenGnome instead. It's a port of Gnome 1 to Windows. The project is long since dead, and was from the XP era. http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=uk&u=http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greengnome&prev=/search%3Fq%3DGreenGnome%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DhgC%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Dfflb . A long time ago I used this for a bit, and worked nicely.
As of 2016, the default Cygwin64 repositories contains Gnome 3 apps.
I installed these cygwin packages (and their dependencies) and I am now able to use Eye of GNOME 3.18 on Windows 7.
- eog
- xinit
- xorg
First, I open a cygwin bash terminal. Then, I type startxwin and hit enter. Two new tray icons appear. One of them resembles the cygwin logo, but with a green X inside the black C. I left click that tray icon and find Image Viewer on the Graphics menu. When I click that, Eye of GNOME starts. (And the 'auto refresh' feature works.)
Similar Gnome 3 apps probably work in the same way.