Ubuntu Linux on WSL gets massive upgrade with new tar-based install that makes Microsoft Store optional
If you are a Linux fan that is forced to use Microsoft Windows for some reason, you know how valuable Windows Subsystem for Linux is. If you aren’t familiar, WSL allows you to run a Linux environment from within Windows -- no virtual machine needed. It’s pretty wonderful.
Well, folks, today, Ubuntu on WSL gets a very useful upgrade that both developers and enterprises should really love. You see, thanks to Microsoft’s new tar-based distribution format, Ubuntu can now be installed and managed without relying on the Microsoft Store. That’s right, y’all -- no more struggling with Store-related headaches.
Microsoft reveals major updates to Windows Subsystem for Linux
At this year's Microsoft BUILD conference, huge updates to Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) were revealed. These updates focus on improving memory, storage, and networking capabilities, introducing a new WSL Settings GUI application, enhancing security with WSL Zero Trust, integrating WSL management into Dev Home, and offering new features for developers.
Microsoft is transitioning several experimental features to default settings in the latest pre-release version of WSL. Key updates include automatically releasing stored memory in WSL back to Windows with the default autoMemoryReclaim=dropCache setting and enhancing networking capabilities with default dnsTunneling=true on Windows 11 machines. There are also experimental features such as enabling automatic disk space reclaim with the command wsl --manage <distro> --set-sparse <true/false> and trying the new mirrored networking mode with IPv6 support via wslconfig.