Now Ubuntu is Available on the Windows 10 Insider Preview

Now Ubuntu is Available on the Windows 10 Insider Preview

Hot on the heels of two SUSE-based Linux environments, Ubuntu is now available to those using newer builds of the Windows 10 Insider Preview as well.

As you may recall, the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a relatively new subsystem for Windows 10 that allows developers and other power users to run native Linux utilities on top of 64-bit versions of Microsoft’s desktop OS. The software giant first announced WSL at Build 2016, and the technology was released in beta form as part of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update in mid-2016, and then in shipping form in the Creators Update in March 2017. During this time, only Ubuntu Linux has been supported in WSL, but Microsoft noted it was open to adding other distributions.

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At Build 2017 last month, Microsoft revealed that more Linux environments, from SUSE and RedHat, would be made available this year in the Fall Creators Update and that, going forward, these environments would be distributed through the Windows Store.

A few weeks ago, two Linux distributions, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 and openSUSE Leap 42, became available in the Windows Store for those running Windows 10 Insider Preview build 16190 or newer. And as of today, Ubuntu is available too. The version is billed as 16.0.4.0, or the 20170619.1 build of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

Once the Fall Creators Update arrives, this is how WSL distributions will be distributed to users. We’re still waiting to see when a test version of Fedora hits the Store, and whether any other versions of Linux will appear in the future as well.

Thanks to Rafael Rivera for the tip.

 

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Conversation 14 comments

  • RamblingGeek

    10 July, 2017 - 2:20 pm

    <p>I'm confused Ubuntu has always been available or do you mean it's now it the store… It always have been? What am I missing. </p>

    • jimchamplin

      Premium Member
      10 July, 2017 - 2:28 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#140675"><em>In reply to RamblingGeek:</em></a></blockquote><p>Originally it had to be installed manually. Now it’s in the store and searchable.</p>

      • RamblingGeek

        10 July, 2017 - 2:30 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#140676"><em>In reply to jimchamplin:</em></a></blockquote><p>OK. I thought you always had to install from the store</p>

        • evancox10

          10 July, 2017 - 10:11 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#140677"><em>In reply to RamblingGeek:</em></a></blockquote><p>Im pretty sure that it would download it form the store in the background, but it was just doing it with a script. Presumably now you can actually navigate to this in the Store GUI? </p>

  • Narg

    10 July, 2017 - 2:50 pm

    <p>Just gotta wonder how Corporate Computing would look if MS had done this 15+ years ago… </p>

    • hrlngrv

      Premium Member
      10 July, 2017 - 3:40 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#140684"><em>In reply to Narg:</em></a></blockquote><p>30 years ago a few places were using Mortice Kern's Korn Shell. 20 years ago NT4 had a POSIX subsystem which, in theory, would have provided this functionality. Don't recall when cygwin became a thing, or U/Win for that matter.</p>

  • Waethorn

    10 July, 2017 - 3:58 pm

    <p>Is it just me, or does it seem odd that you're in a pre-release program to install an LTS version of Ubuntu? Wouldn't it make more sense to be on the latest version of Ubuntu if you're a developer?</p>

    • skane2600

      10 July, 2017 - 4:23 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#140738"><em>In reply to Waethorn:</em></a></blockquote><p>It seems to me if you're a developer who is targeting Linux you'd just install Linux instead of Windows and if you develop for Windows Ubuntu isn't all that interesting. </p>

      • lvthunder

        Premium Member
        10 July, 2017 - 7:50 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#140754"><em>In reply to skane2600:</em></a></blockquote><p>It depends on what you are doing. If all you want is a LAMP stack that is compatable with your server to make a website locally this is ideal. You can run that and still use all the Windows apps you want.</p>

        • Waethorn

          11 July, 2017 - 11:35 am

          <blockquote><a href="#140812"><em>In reply to lvthunder:</em></a></blockquote><p>No, you don't get it. This isn't built for running full applications. Putting a LAMP stack on WSL wouldn't be supported by Microsoft because they've said already that it isn't built for running full applications or services. Developers who use the commandline tools for debugging or using things like git would prefer to have the latest stable version, not an LTS version.</p>

    • Peter Hultqvist

      11 July, 2017 - 4:07 am

      <blockquote><a href="#140738"><em>In reply to Waethorn:</em></a></blockquote><p>The pre-release state is only temporary. It makes sense in the long run that they would only keep up with the LTS versions.</p>

  • SvenJ

    10 July, 2017 - 5:17 pm

    <p>This is so far removed from Balmer's "There's no such thing as a free puppy", Linux rants. This is not your father's MS.</p>

    • MikeGalos

      11 July, 2017 - 9:08 am

      <blockquote><a href="#140786"><em>In reply to SvenJ:</em></a></blockquote><p>You mean your Father's Microsoft that built POSIX.1 compatibility into Windows NT from the first version? Or maybe your Father's Microsoft that offered Windows Services for UNIX starting in 1999? </p>

  • skane2600

    10 July, 2017 - 8:34 pm

    <p>Narg from the Premium side said: "just gotta wonder how Corporate Computing would look if MS had done this 15+ years ago…"</p><p><br></p><p>It would be amazing since Ubuntu didn't exist 15+ years ago. </p><p><br></p><p>But more seriously, Unix has been around longer than Windows. If it were going to dominate corporate computing it would have happened long before Linux came along. </p>

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