Microsoft is beginning to allow Windows 10 testers to access Linux GUI applications. The first GUI application support preview is available today for Windows Insiders, allowing developers to run GUI editors, tools, and applications to build and test Linux applications. It is a significant extension to the Microsoft Windows for Linux (WSL) subsystem, after the company added a full Linux kernel to Windows 10 last year.
Although it was possible to run Linux GUI applications in Windows previously using a third-party X server, Microsoft’s official support means that there is also hardware acceleration of the GPU, so that applications and tools run smoothly. Audio and microphone support is also included in the box, so Linux developers can easily test or run video players and communications applications.
All of this is enabled without Windows users having to use X11 forwarding and without users manually starting an X server. Microsoft automatically starts an accompanying system distribution when you try to run a Linux GUI application and contains a Wayland, a server X, a pulse audio server and everything needed for this to work in Windows. After you finish an application and WSL, this special distribution also ends. All of these components combine to make it very easy to run Linux GUI applications alongside regular Windows applications.
Microsoft is also testing a new eco mode for Windows Task Manager in this latest test release. It is an experimental feature that allows you to limit process resources in the Task Manager. It is really designed to limit applications that suddenly start to take up a lot of system resources and could be useful if you want to temporarily restrict an application.
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If you are interested in testing Linux GUI applications on Windows 10 or this new Task Manager feature, you will need to install the latest version of Windows Insider 21364 from Dev Channel. Be warned: these are designed as developer developments and not for cars you rely on on a daily basis.