Install WSL with a single command now available in Windows 10 version 2004 and higher

July 30, 2021 Jul 30, 2021 07/30/21
Craig Loewen
In the latest Windows Insider Preview builds, you can install everything you need to run WSL just by running wsl.exe --install. We’re excited to announce that this functionality is now officially backported to Windows 10 version 2004 and higher, which will make installing WSL on those builds much easier! Using wsl --install The process ...

Build and Debug C++ with WSL 2 Distributions and Visual Studio 2022

July 14, 2021 Jul 14, 2021 07/14/21
Erika Sweet
This post is written by Erika Sweet, a Program Manager on Microsoft's C++ Team. Visual Studio 2022 introduces a native WSL 2 toolset for C++ development. This toolset is available now in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.0 Preview 2. WSL 2 is the new, recommended version of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) architecture that provides better ...

Windows Terminal Preview 1.10 Release

July 14, 2021 Jul 14, 2021 07/14/21
Kayla Cinnamon
It's Windows Terminal release day! This release introduces Windows Terminal Preview to version 1.10 and Windows Terminal will be updated to version 1.9 soon. Windows Terminal will include all of the features listed in the 1.9 blog post except for the default terminal setting and the ability to edit actions using the settings UI. We are keeping...

Windows Package Manager 1.0

May 26, 2021 May 26, 2021 05/26/21
Demitrius Nelon
We started a journey to build a native package manager for Windows 10 when we announced the Windows Package Manager preview at Microsoft Build 2020. We released the project on GitHub as an open-source collaborative effort and the community engagement has been wonderful to experience! Here we are today at Microsoft Build 2021… We are excited...

Windows Terminal Preview 1.9 Release

May 25, 2021 May 25, 2021 05/25/21
Kayla Cinnamon
Happy Microsoft Build 2021 and happy 2nd birthday to Windows Terminal! This release introduces version 1.9 to Windows Terminal Preview and migrates Windows Terminal to version 1.8. As always, you can install both builds from the Microsoft Store as well as from the GitHub releases page. Let's get into what's new! Default terminal You can now ...

Windows Package Manager v0.3 Preview

April 22, 2021 Apr 22, 2021 04/22/21
Demitrius Nelon
We have been hard at work building new experimental features for the Windows Package Manager. We have just released the Windows Package Manager v0.3 Preview. I would like to share the first major feature to exit experimental status. I also have the privilege of announcing support for Group Policy. What's New Introducing Import I have been ...

The Initial Preview of GUI app support is now available for the Windows Subsystem for Linux

April 21, 2021 Apr 21, 2021 04/21/21
Craig Loewen
A year ago at BUILD 2020 we introduced our goal to bring Linux GUI applications to the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to run Linux GUI applications. We are proud to announce the first preview of this highly anticipated and open source feature! We’ve given this feature the nickname: “WSLg”. Please check out the video below or keep ...

WSLg Architecture

April 19, 2021 Apr 19, 2021 04/19/21
Steve Pronovost
If you landed on this blog, you’ve probably seen our announcement for GUI applications support in the Windows Subsystem for Linux being available to Windows Insiders and looking for more details on how WSLg was built. If so, you’ve come to the right place! Be warned that this blog is fairly long and technical. We wanted to tell WSLg’s ...

Servicing the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2 Linux kernel

April 16, 2021 Apr 16, 2021 04/16/21
Craig Loewen
Note: This blog post is co-authored by the awesome WSL dev Pierre Boulay. Thanks Pierre! 😊 We’ve just shipped the 5.10.16.3 WSL 2 Linux kernel version to Windows Insiders which brings exciting new changes: Support for the LUKS disk encryption, and some long-awaited bug fixes. We’d like to seize this opportunity to highlight these ...