Linux users may soon benefit from support for more Windows 10 builds to work with.
Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 1903 and 1909 builds will be included in support for Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2), allowing open source software to run on more versions than ever before.
Previously, WSL2 users were restricted to the newer Windows 10 2004 or higher releases.
Windows 10 Linux
“We heard how much you liked WSL 2 and wanted to expand its accessibility, and in recent months we’ve been working on bringing it back to 1903 and 1909,” Microsoft Windows Servicing staff members Ty Citrin and Mitchell Minkoff wrote in a blog post announcing launch.
“We’ve heard great customer feedback about how much users have enjoyed using WSL 2, and the primary goal for this backport is to make WSL 2 available to more Windows users.”
The pair says that WSL 2 is “a new version” of the architecture in WSL that changes how Linux distributions interact with Windows. Any Linux distribution can run as WSL 1 or as WSL 2, and can be switched between at any time.
All features for WSL 2 distros will now be available for an even larger user base, with the pair having a full Linux kernel built into WSL 2.
They also include file system performance now, equal to Mac and Linux speeds, improved System Call Support for all Linux applications, and Docker Desktop support.
The update is only for x64 systems as it is now, with users on ARM64 versions having to upgrade to Windows 10 version 2004 and you will have full access to WSL 2.
The news comes shortly after Microaoft also announced that it would support graphics processor to Linux on Windows 10 via WSL, with Nvidia, Intel and AMD also announcing their support.
Via ZDNet
