Running Linux on Windows

You can easily run Linux on Windows using the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

A lot of Linux tools are available, but a lot of people are still running Microsoft Windows, so it can be advantageous to have Linux readily available on Windows.

Since 2019 Microsoft delivered WSL 2, that offers a nice Linux experience on Windows 11, without the need to install an emulator like VirtualBox.

Advantages

• You do not need to partition your hard disk
• Very easy to install and upgrade
• Extremely fast (95% relative to native Linux performance)
• No other software necessary:
  • No emulator or virtual machine required
  • Available as a simple option on Windows 11
• You can run X Window applications without an X Window emulator like Exceed
• Uses all 12 cores instead of only 6 cores in VirtualBox
• Seamless integration with Windows
  • Access to all Windows file systems (most of them are compatible with Linux)

Options

The default distribution is Ubuntu, but you can choose your own (including Android).

Prerequisites

• Windows 11
  • administrator PowerShell for the initial installation
  • user mode sessions can be run with the normal PowerShell
• Hardware:
  • 64-bit processor
  • Activate hardware virtualisation in the BIOS
  • Up-to-date video driver for WSL

Installation

Extremely easy: start an administrator PowerShell, then:

wsl -l
wsl --install

Now you can test if X Window is working:

xclock &

To upgrade:

wsl --update

Technology

It is using parts (9P protocol) of the Plan 9 OS (from Bell Labs).

Known problems

Linux filesystem requirements

Some specific Linux functionality require a native Linux filesystem, and fails with the 9P protocol. Examples: the Pywikibot user password file (must be protected by the 600 access mask).

Alternative solutions

• PAWS
• VirtualBox

External links

• Run Linux GUI apps on the Windows Subsystem for Linux
• How to run GUI apps with Windows Subsystem for Linux