Major performance improvements coming in this version

May 7, 2019 08:01 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has announced the second version of Windows Subsystem for Linux, the company’s own platform that lets users run Linux on top of Windows 10.

Simply called Windows Subsystem for Linux 2, or WSL 2, this new version comes with substantial file system performance increases and full system call compatibility.

In a blog post detailing the tweaks the company has given to WSL with this new release, Microsoft explains that WSL 2 is mostly based on feedback, addressing top requests like more apps working inside of WSL.

“WSL 2 is a new version of the architecture that powers the Windows Subsystem for Linux to run ELF64 Linux binaries on Windows. This new architecture changes how these Linux binaries interact with Windows and your computer’s hardware, but still provides the same user experience as in WSL 1 (the current widely available version),” Microsoft explains.

Users will be able to run Linux distros on either WSL 1 or WSL 2, and just like before, they can upgrade or downgrade them at any version. But what’s more important is that WSL 1 and WSL 2 distros will be able to run side by side.

Linux kernel in Windows

Microsoft says WSL 2 comes with major improvements in terms of performance, with initial tests showing that it can unpack a zipped tarball 20 times faster than WSL 1. Furthermore, for commands like git clone, npm install, and cmake, WSL 2 can become up to 5 times faster than its predecessor.

WSL 2 integrates a real Linux kernel in Windows for full system call compatibility, and Microsoft says it’ll release updates via Windows Update. WSL 2 will ship with Linux kernel version 4.19.

“Now that WSL 2 includes its own Linux kernel it has full system call compatibility. This introduces a whole new set of apps that you can run inside of WSL. Some exciting examples are the Linux version of Docker, as well as FUSE!” Microsoft says.

WSL 2 will become available for testing by the end of June for users enrolled in the Windows Insider program.