Note: Starting with the Fall Creators Update, you can no longer install Ubuntu by running the “bash” command. Click “Get the apps” under the “Linux on Windows?” banner. You just need to install it from the Windows Features window.Īfter your computer restarts, open the Microsoft Store from the Start menu, and search for “Linux” in the store.

Note: Starting with the Fall Creators Update, you no longer have to enable Developer Mode in the Settings app to use this feature. Enable the “Windows Subsystem for Linux” option in the list, and then click the “OK” button.Ĭlick “Restart now” when you’re prompted to restart your computer. It’s time to switch to the 64-bit version of Windows 10 if you’re still using the 32-bit version, anyway.Īssuming you have 64-bit Windows, to get started, head to Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows Features On Or Off. This feature doesn’t work on the 32-bit version of Windows 10, so ensure you’re using the 64-bit version of Windows. RELATED: How Do I Know if I’m Running 32-bit or 64-bit Windows? Not every command-line application works, either, as the feature isn’t perfect. This doesn’t yet support background server software, and it won’t officially work with graphical Linux desktop applications. You can choose openSUSE Leap or SUSE Enterprise Server instead of Ubuntu, and Fedora is also on its way. It now supports other Linux distributions, too. While this feature was originally called “Bash on Ubuntu on Windows,” it also allows you to run Zsh and other command-line shells. The Bash shell you’ll get is really just all those GNU utilities and other software. Free software purists often argue the average Linux operating system should be called “GNU/Linux” because it’s really a lot of GNU software running on the Linux kernel. Instead, this allows you to run the Bash shell and the exact same binaries you’d normally run on Ubuntu Linux. Linux is the underlying operating system kernel, and that isn’t available here. Microsoft worked with Canonical to offer a full Ubuntu-based Bash shell environment that runs atop this subsystem. While Wine allows you to run Windows applications directly on Linux, the Windows Subsystem for Linux allows you to run Linux applications directly on Windows. It’s based on Microsoft’s abandoned Project Astoria work for running Android apps on Windows. Instead, Windows 10 offers a full Windows Subsystem intended for Linux for running Linux software. This isn’t a virtual machine, a container, or Linux software compiled for Windows (like Cygwin). RELATED: Everything You Can Do With Windows 10's New Bash Shell What You Need to Know About Windows 10’s Bash Shell

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