The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) has been a great idea from Microsoft, as it allows us to be able to run a Linux environment without having to use a virtual machine, which is a huge advantage. Well, now WSL is integrated into the Windows 11 application store and we will tell you how to use it.
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Being able to have a Linux subsystem running on Windows is something that we have already seen before the arrival of Windows 11.
We have already used WSL in Windows 10 since I arrived in 2019, so it is nothing new within the Redmond operating system. But now it comes to Windows 11, faster than some of us expected, since it has been integrated into the Microsoft Store, the system’s official application store.
Let’s see what we have to do to be able to enjoy Linux in Windows 11, something that seems simpler, a priori, than in Windows 10. Let’s check it out.
What is the Windows Subsystem for Linux?
The Windows Subsystem for Linux allows us run a GNU / Linux environment including the directly on Windows operating system, without using a machine virtual or a dual boot configuration. Including most command line tools, utilities, or applications.
In this Subsystem you can:
- Run common command line tools.
- Run Bash shell scripts and GNU / Linux command line applications, such as:
- Use vim, emacs, tmux tools.
- Different languages like NodeJS, Javascript, Python, Ruby, C/C++, C# & F#, Rust, Go, etc.
- Some services like SSHD, MySQL, Apache, lighttpd, MongoDB, PostgreSQL.
- Install additional software using the GNU / Linux distribution package manager.
- It invokes Windows applications through a UNIX-like command-line shell in addition to other GNU / Linux applications on Windows.
Windows 11 has already been revealed, and it has caused a great commotion in the PC world, through no fault of the operating system itself. We tell you all the keys to the replacement of Windows 10.
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Windows para Linux en Microsoft Store
Although the Windows Subsystem for Linux has been around for years, the fact that it is now an application belonging to the Microsoft Store It does nothing but make it official, in addition to allowing it to be updated like any other app, something that will be very good in the long run.
This official status that it now has contrasts with what we have experienced so far, that is, an additional feature of Windows that we had to install from outside, although it was simple.
In summary, now the Windows Subsystem for Linux is official and that makes it treated like any application that belongs to the Microsoft Store.
How to Install Windows Subsystem for Linux
As we have it in the Microsoft Store, the first steps will be much easier than before, since we are facing one more app.
Even so, before going to the heart of the matter we must make sure of 2 questions:
- The first is that we are running windows 11 Windows 22000 build or higher.
- In addition, we must have the component enabled Virtual machine platform.
If the Virtual Machine Platform is not enabled you can always get it up and running using PowerShell.
For that we must do the following:
- We put powershell in the search bar of the Start menu.
- When it comes out we right-click and select Execute as an administrator.
- Now is when we must write the following command: dism.exe / online / enable-feature / featurename: VirtualMachinePlatform / all
Now we can go to the Microsoft Store application store and, at the top, write to search Windows Subsystem for Linux Preview.
Once found it is time to click on Install and we wait until we already have it on our hard drive to start working with it.
From here we will have the power to have Linux associated with our Windows 11, in the same way that it worked in Windows 10.
The operating system is the same, but it is true that, being an app, Microsoft has taken the opportunity to put something new on it.
WSL and Windows 11
The truth is that WSL in Windows 11 has something new that we did not have until now, it is not that it is much, but there is something.
We must also be aware that now it will have updates from time to time. These updates will respect all the information that is given in the application, that is, like any other program.
Some new WSL stuff in Windows 11 version is:
- The WSLg o Windows subsystem for Linux GUI, is now integrated with the application.
- The kernel de Linux WSL is updated to version 5.10.60.1
- One new indicator progress
- With a new command we can see the information about the version.
Anyway, if you want to know exactly all the changes that have occurred in the new version that is in the Microsoft Store, then do it in the following link.
There you will find everything much more in detail.
