Windows Subsystem for Linux
| A component of Microsoft Windows | |
|---|---|
Bash running on Windows 10
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| Details | |
| Type | Compatibility layer |
| Included with | Windows 10 Anniversary Update |
| Replaces | Windows Services for UNIX |
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a compatibility layer for running Linux binary executables (in ELF format) natively on Windows 10. Microsoft and Canonical partnered together to enable a genuine Ubuntu 14.04 "Trusty Tahr" image to be downloaded and extracted to the user's local machine, and for the tools and utilities contained within that image to run natively on top of the WSL. WSL provides a Linux-compatible kernel interface developed by Microsoft (containing no Linux kernel code), with user-mode binaries from Ubuntu running on top of it – a Bash shell and command language, with native Linux command-line tools (sed, awk, etc.) and programming language interpreters (Ruby, Python, etc.).
This subsystem cannot run all Linux software such as some using a graphical user interface (GUI) or those in need of unimplemented Linux kernel services. It is, however, possible to mitigate this by running graphical X Window System applications with an external X server such as VcXsrv or Xming. WSL uses fewer resources than a full virtualized machine, the most direct way to run Linux software on a Windows computer, while also allowing users to use Windows apps and Linux tools on the same set of files.
Windows Subsystem for Linux is only available on 64-bit editions of Windows 10 and can be activated on Windows 10 Anniversary Update and later. The subsystem originated in the unreleased Project Astoria, which enabled some Android applications to run on Windows 10 Mobile. It was first made available in Windows 10 Insider Preview build 14316.
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