Microsoft has begun allowing Windows 10 testers access to Linux GUI apps.
The first preview of support for GUI applications is available today for Windows Insiders, allowing developers to run GUI editors, tools, and applications to build and test Linux apps. After the company added the Linux kernel to Windows 10 last year, this extension seems significant for Microsoft’s Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
Advertisement
Linux GUI apps could be run within Windows previously using a third-party X server, however, official support from Microsoft means there’s also GPU hardware acceleration so apps and tools run smoothly. Audio and microphone support is also included out of the box, so Linux devs can easily test or run video players and communications apps.
Windows users do not have to use X11 forwarding or manually starting an X server. Microsoft automatically starts a companion system distro when you attempt to run a Linux GUI app, and it contains a Wayland, X server, pulse audio server, and everything else needed to make this work inside Windows.
Once an app and WSL is terminated, then this special distro ends, too. All of these components combine to make it super easy to run Linux GUI apps alongside regular Windows apps.
Microsoft is also testing a new eco mode for the Windows Task Manager in this latest test build. The experimental feature lets you throttle process resources inside Task Manager. Designed to rein in apps that suddenly start taking up lots of system resources, it could be useful if you want to temporarily throttle back an app.
For testing Linux GUI apps on Windows 10 or the new Task Manager feature, you’ll need to install the latest Windows Insider build 21364 from the Dev Channel.