Now Everyone Can Run Linux Tools on Windows 10

The best of both worlds. Now sys admins can run tools and utilities that they need for their workloads, irrespective of whether these run on Window 10 or Linux. Microsoft has taken Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) out of beta, and it will become a fully supported feature with the arrival of the next Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (FCU).

Not much will change from the technology standpoint; WSL still has a limited set of features, and it could be buggy at times, but now you have Microsoft’s support behind it.

“What will change is that you will gain the added advantage of being able to file issues on WSL and its Windows tooling via our normal support mechanisms if you want/need to follow a more formal issue resolution process. You can also provide feedback via Windows 10 Feedback Hub app, which delivers feedback directly to the team,” said Rich Turner, senior program manager at Microsoft.

The only caveat here is that Microsoft will not be offering distro-specific support to users. The support is limited to WSL capabilities and not beyond. Turner made it quite clear that distro publishers are responsible for their distro internals.

Turned added that, “Microsoft and our awesome distro publisher partners maintain an open channel and partner-up to diagnose issues to their root cause, wherever that may be, and to schedule and deliver fixes when feasible.”

WSL allows you to run your choice of Linux distribution in Windows 10. Major distributions like openSUSE Leap are now available from the store and can be installed with one click.