Microsoft announced that Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2) will be generally available in Windows 10, version 2004. WSL2 was released into the Insider Program last year. With the move to general availability, WSL2 can now be automatically updated via standard Windows Updates.
As discussed previously, WSL2 is a change in architecture from WSL 1. Where WSL 1 required a translation layer between the Linux system calls and the Windows NT kernel, WSL 2 ships with a lightweight VM running a full Linux kernel. This VM runs directly on the Windows Hypervisor layer. This kernel includes full system call compatibility and allows for running apps like Docker and FUSE natively on Linux. With this new implementation, the Linux kernel has full access to the Windows file system.
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