Ubuntu, SUSE Linux, and Fedora are all coming to the Windows Store

[2FA]

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Ubuntu, SUSE Linux, and Fedora will all be available to install directly from the Windows Store, making it easy to run Linux apps on any Windows 10 device. The Linux installations will run in a virtualized environment side by side with Windows, with the same command-line utilities available that you’d normally have with a full installation.

 

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Being on the Windows Store also means that the distros will be able to work on the education-focused Windows 10S. This could give Microsoft an extra edge in appealing to computer science and engineering students who may want access to the open-source operating system for developing code.

I personally think this is great and have already been using the BASH beta. I do a lot of Linux-based programming for my classes so being able to easily use Linux tools on my main PC that runs Windows if I don't want to use my Linux laptop is very nice.

 

Source: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/5/11/15625320/ubuntu-suse-linux-fedora-windows-store-microsoft-build-2017

[WkdPaul]

@DeadEyePsycho

@Johners

 

Threads were merged. Also, let's not do the "my thread is better".

[SCHISCHKA]

ewww

[SCHISCHKA]

Just now, Johners said:

What's wrong with it exactly?

I know MS is up to something evil. Their history is, if you are saving money with a new technology solution they will bring out new license restrictions so that those savings go towards buying MS licenses. Look at thin client licensing and office via terminal server, even windows server 2016. I dont know what it is but I do know they dont do shit for free and they are very smart at market take over.

[vanished]

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making it easy to run Linux apps on any Windows 10 device. 

Handy... now lets get the reverse happening  

[Sauron]

That's good, I still personally prefer runnign natively - even in a vm.

7 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

I know MS is up to something evil. Their history is, if you are saving money with a new technology solution they will bring out new license restrictions so that those savings go towards buying MS licenses. Look at thin client licensing and office via terminal server, even windows server 2016. I dont know what it is but I do know they dont do shit for free and they are very smart at market take over.

they may simply have realized many programmers want this and may be more inclined to buy a windows license if they include it.

[paddy-stone]

So would you still have to set the amount of cores and other hardware you want to use as if you were setting up a VM? if so, what's the difference? you might as well just run VMs as most people are likely to do now anyway.

[2FA]

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

So would you still have to set the amount of cores and other hardware you want to use as if you were setting up a VM? if so, what's the difference? you might as well just run VMs as most people are likely to do now anyway.

It's a co-subsystem to the Win32 subsystem. They both share the same underlying Windows Kernel but each will have different methods for operating, but since the kernel is the same either type of operation is valid.

 

It's a similar concept to WINE but with pretty much full support except for an Xserver; there is a 3rd-party beta Xserver in development that will allow you to run Linux based GUIs.

[paddy-stone]

1 minute ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

It's a co-subsystem to the Win32 subsystem. They both share the same underlying Windows Kernel but each will have different methods for operating, but since the kernel is the same either type of operation is valid.

 

It's a similar concept to WINE but with pretty much full support except for an Xserver; there is a 3rd-party beta Xserver in development that will allow you to run Linux based GUIs.

Ahh cool, so you wouldn't ahve to set aside resources then and you'd have access to as little/many cores as the apps/system allows for then too? that's be pretty cool if so, I sometimes have to re-configure my VMs for resources occassionally when I realise I have set aside too many for what I want to do, lol.

[2FA]

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

Ahh cool, so you wouldn't ahve to set aside resources then and you'd have access to as little/many cores as the apps/system allows for then too? that's be pretty cool if so, I sometimes have to re-configure my VMs for resources occassionally when I realise I have set aside too many for what I want to do, lol.

Ignoring the underlying system functions to make it work, it's just like running any other application in Windows.

[paddy-stone]

Just now, DeadEyePsycho said:

Ignoring the underlying system functions to make it work, it's just like running any other application in Windows.

Yeah, that's pretty nice then actually... finally a windows feature that makes some sense and is useful /s

 

No seriously, it's pretty good, might save me some resources or headache of managing them, and might make me use windows more often again. But ATM I mainly use linux and run windows in VM, would be very nice to see it work the other way around and have linux run windows as an app, I know thta's not gonna happen what with windows licensing and all that, but still a nice thought.

[VicBar]

This is pretty interesting.. But the reverse of the IDEAL set-up.

[GoodBytes]

42 minutes ago, VicBar said:

This is pretty interesting.. But the reverse of the IDEAL set-up.

If it makes you feel better, Microsoft is not implementing this blindly. They are working in partnership with the owner/sponsor of each of the mentioned OS.

At work, I use Ubuntu Linux subsystem of Windows. It is great, and works mostly great. I am having trouble running programs using KDE GUI library however. I am still looking into it. Also, my work computer has yet to be upgraded to the Creator Update, which includes further improvements, so it might work there.

 

[Misanthrope]

This is mostly just the command line right?

 

Although with screen you can do a lot. I remember even configuring video playback and a fully working browser on the CLI using video  framebuffer, no window management at all.

[GoodBytes]

8 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

This is mostly just the command line right?

 

Although with screen you can do a lot. I remember even configuring video playback and a fully working browser on the CLI using video  framebuffer, no window management at all.

I though command line was the best way to do things?

But, seriously now, you can, but you need to use something like XMing (free, open source).

[Misanthrope]

4 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

I though command line was the best way to do things?

But, seriously now, you can, but you need to use something like XMing (free, open source).

Actually I was just thinking out loud cause I think this feature is to offer some sysadmins something a bit more robust than Putty but not quite a full Linux install: for example we have standard issue windows 10 images for everybody and the Redhat sysadmins basically just use putty but this would be maybe more preferable somehow.

[IAmAndre]

I personally use this feature a lot since there are no options if you're looking for a convertible running Linux. Ubuntu runs pretty well on my Windows 10 tablet, and I'm running SUSE on my main PC. That's very helpful for me, and I think Windows got it right: the best way to use Windows is to use another OS on top of it that is not Windows.

That said, what's the difference between this and the Ubuntu implementation they released last year? Is it just the fact there are new distros?

[PlayStation 2]

Seems very interesting.

Quick question, would this be like the Windows XP mode included with Windows 7 Professional/Enterprise and above?

[rashdanml]

1 hour ago, VicBar said:

This is pretty interesting.. But the reverse of the IDEAL set-up.

The ideal setup would be a Linux host with Windows guest, with GPU-passthrough. GPU vritualization is usually terrible, and GPU-Passthrough allows the guest OS to take full advantage of the host's hardware. 

 

Easy enough to setup if you have a CPU that supports the right virtualization specifications. 

[2FA]

3 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

I personally use this feature a lot since there are no options if you're looking for a convertible running Linux. Ubuntu runs pretty well on my Windows 10 tablet, and I'm running SUSE on my main PC. That's very helpful for me, and I think Windows got it right: the best way to use Windows is to use another OS on top of it that is not Windows.

That said, what's the difference between this and the Ubuntu implementation they released last year? Is it just the fact there are new distros?

This is the official release, the current one is in beta.

[Sauron]

2 hours ago, paddy-stone said:

So would you still have to set the amount of cores and other hardware you want to use as if you were setting up a VM? if so, what's the difference? you might as well just run VMs as most people are likely to do now anyway.

No, it's like wine in reverse

[Tam3n]

Just for fun, I've got Blender running on WSL (Ubuntu 16.04). Linux builds render faster on CPU than the WIndows builds

[SCHISCHKA]

2 hours ago, Tam3n said:

Just for fun, I've got Blender running on WSL (Ubuntu 16.04). Linux builds render faster on CPU than the WIndows builds

you should publish a benchmark with instructions so others can reproduce it

[Tam3n]

3 hours ago, SCHISCHKA said:

you should publish a benchmark with instructions so others can reproduce it

It's nothing major, but it's been long know that the Linux builds are a bit faster than Windows ones. I guess it just comes down to the compiler doing better job for Linux or something. The gap used to be bigger in the past, but it has narrowed down in recent years as things have improved for Windows. Anyway I don't really use Blender in this way, but here are the tests I have done using the BMW benchmark scene - just out of curiosity and something to tinker with.

 

Blender version: 2.78 5b873c8(c24)

 

Running on the same hardware and settings for each case:

1) Linux build - Ubuntu 16.04 WSL on Windows 10 cpu time: 2:01
2) Linux build - Ubuntu 16.04 in Virtualbox on Windows 10 cpu time: 2:26
3) Windows build (VS 2015) - Windows 10 cpu time: 2:13

 

1) Linux build on WSL

2) Linux build in VM

3) Windows build

 

I use MobaXterm for the display server and you need to run blender with -noaudio, because WSL audio got issues at least for me. You also might need to install Blender with apt install before custom builds work.

 

Anyway, the difference is small, but it was interesting to do the tests.

[GoodBytes]

How did you get MobaXterm to connect to WSL?