In the May update for Windows 10, the operating system will receive support for the new version of Windows Subsystem for Linux, WSL2.
The intention is to support even more from the Linux environment on Windows.
Microsoft started in 2016 with limited support for Linux within Windows. That turned out to be a bull’s eye, today there are more than 3.5 million active devices that run Linux within Windows and use command-line tools and apps via WSL.
After an initial announcement last year, Microsoft is now releasing WSL2 which will be available from the Windows 10 May update.
In general, the updated version should make apps and tools run faster and there are new possibilities in the Windows Hypervisor Platform to run distros and tools in containers on Microsoft’s Linux kernel in Windows 10.
According to Microsoft, WSL2 will be three to six times faster than the first version of WSL. It is a system that is fully compatible with the Linux Kernel.
WSL will also be installable from now on with one command: by typing ‘WSL.exe – install’ in Windows Terminal.
In the margins of the announcement of WSL2, Microsoft says that Docker is already using WSL2 for Docker Desktop for Windows today. As a result, containers will start up faster and require fewer resources from the machine on which they run.