Just as it was the case with its predecessors, select editions of Windows 7 include by default a multi-user UNIX environment, designed to offer functionality specific to the open source operating system, on top of the Windows platform. In addition to the Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications (SUA), Microsoft is also offering Windows 7 users additional resources as a standalone download. Utilities and a software development kit (SDK) for Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications in Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are currently up for grabs via the Microsoft Download Center.

“Utilities and SDK for Subsystem for UNIX-Based Applications is an add-on to the Subsystem for UNIX-Based Applications component that ships in Microsoft Windows 7/ Windows Server 2008 R2,” Microsoft revealed. SUA is available only in the high-end and volume licensing editions of Windows 7, namely the Ultimate and Enterprise SKUs.

As some customers undoubtedly know, Windows Vista also featured SUA, and Microsoft also complemented the components with utilities and the SDK for Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications in Microsoft Windows Vista RTM/Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 RTM.

The utilities and the SKD consisted “of the following components: Base Utilities, SVR-5 Utilities, Base SDK, GNU SDK, GNU Utilities, UNIX Perl, Visual Studio Debugger Add-in. This release enables 64-bit application development for SUA. development and porting of custom UNIX applications using the Windows OCI (Oracle Call Interface) and Windows ODBC libraries (‘Mixed Mode’),” Microsoft added.

Older versions of Windows do not feature the Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications. At one point, Microsoft was offering the Interix subsystem with Windows Services for UNIX 3.5. SUA is, in this regard, an evolution from Interix. “SUA and its accompanying utilities provide you with an environment that resembles UNIX-based operating systems. It also includes case-sensitive file names, job control, compilation tools, and the use of over 300 UNIX commands, utilities, and shell scripts. Because SUA is designed to run atop the Windows kernel, it offers true UNIX-based functionality without any emulation,” the Redmond company added.

Utilities and SDK for Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications in Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is available for download here.