User response will drive where they go next. Why a “preview?Īt this point, Microsoft is leaning toward eventually moving everyone to the Store version for a better user experience, faster updates and no need to update their OS.

They will still have the option to run an older installed version of WSL. Users also will have no requirement to remove anything from their systems. In addition, Linux GUI apps will already be installed-everything you need in one package. While the subsystem for Linux must be enabled for WSL 1, it does not for the Store’s WSL 2 because it remains separate from the Windows image. The Linux kernel has been updated to 5.10.60.1. They’ve also added a progress bar to provide feedback on long installs. In addition, mounting virtual hard-disk image files will be easier, file system type detection is available, and mount-point naming through WSL is supported. New features include that WSLg (the GUI that supports running Linux applications) is now bundled with it. To install and use WSL from the Store, users need to be running Windows 11 build 22000 or higher. This increases file-system performance and supports full system-call compatibility.

If you’re not familiar with WSL 2, it’s a major overhaul of the underlying WSL architecture and uses virtualization and a Linux kernel to enable new features.

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