Ubuntu Preview for Windows Subsystem for Linux is now available in the Microsoft Store

The arrival of Windows Subsystem for Linux in Windows 10 and Windows 11 opened up a world of new opportunities for users of Linux-based distros. Until now, Ubuntu fans have been limited to installing Long Term Supported (LTS) releases, but this is changing.

Recognizing that there are plenty of people who like to be on the cutting edge, Canonical has announced that preview builds of Ubuntu will now also be made available to download and install from the Microsoft Store.

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In making Ubuntu Preview available to users of WSL in Windows 10 and Windows 11, Canonical is giving more people the opportunity to try out the very distro builds.

Announcing the change, the company says: "Up until now, Ubuntu WSL users have had access to our current Long Term Supported (LTS) releases. These provide a stable Ubuntu development environment, deeply integrated with Windows, for data science, cloud, web and IoT developers".

Canonical continues:

But what if you’re one of those folks who like to live life on the edge? Someone who wants innovation first and stability second? Well, Ubuntu Preview is here to satisfy the thrill-seekers, allowing users to try out the latest updates and improvements the moment they’re available.

This app delivers the latest daily builds of Ubuntu WSL directly to your Windows machine. As amazing as that sounds, it should come as no surprise that this is not recommended for production development. It may be unstable and it will have bugs. But if you want a sneak peek at the future of Ubuntu, or to help identify issues and improvements, it might just be the app for you!

If this sounds interesting, you can grab Ubuntu Preview from the Microsoft Store