If this is your first time hearing of WSLg, the short version is simple: you can install GUI apps-for example, Firefox-from your Ubuntu (or other distro) command line, and they'll work as expected, including sound. But Windows 11 is the first production Windows build with WSLg support. This isn't exactly a first-Microsoft debuted WSLg in April, with Windows 10 Insider Build 21364. Installing WSL on Windows 11įurther Reading Graphical Linux apps are coming to Windows Subsystem for LinuxIn addition to easy installation, WSL on Windows 11 brings support for both graphics and audio in WSL apps. The Windows Subsystem for Linux isn't perfect on Windows 11, but it's a huge improvement over what came before.

Windows 11 finally fixes both of those problems. Installing WSL has never been as easy as it should be-and getting graphical apps to work has historically been possible but also a pain in the butt that required some fairly obscure third-party software.

But WSL, handy as it is, has been hobbled by several things it could not do. Further Reading Windows 11: The Ars Technica reviewIn our main Windows 11 review posted earlier this week, we covered the majority of new features and design decisions in Microsoft's newest consumer OS-and it feels reasonable to characterize the overall impression given there as 'lukewarm.' The good news is that we still hadn't covered the best part of Windows 11: Linux.įor years now, Windows 10's Windows Subsystem for Linux has been making life easier for developers, sysadmins, and hobbyists who have one foot in the Windows world and one foot in the Linux world.

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