

This provides 100% Linux compatibility, and allows your Linux tools to run with near native performance, and consumes minimum resources necessary from the host, ensuring your machine runs fast and smoothly. The soon to be released WSL2, on the other hand, runs distros' binaries within Linux containers, atop a real Linux kernel, inside a lightweight VM that allocates only the RAM needed by the apps it runs, and then releases freed RAM back to the host OS. WSL1 took an approach of adding a Linux syscall compatible layer at the top of the NT kernel, allowing Linux binaries to run atop NT, sharing the same underlying filesystem, networking, process list, etc. WSL allows you to run native, unmodified Linux ELF-64 binaries directly on Windows, and enables you to run your favorite Linux tools atop your Windows "host" OS. Hi! Microsoft PM working on WSL & Command Line here. Updated 8 to reflect changes introduced in WSL2
