Microsoft announced that it has backporting Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2 to the two previous versions of Windows 10.

“Support for Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2 distros is being backported to Windows 10 version[s] 1903 and 1909,” Microsoft’s Tyler Citrin writes in the announcement post. “Yes, you read that right. We heard how much you liked WSL 2 and wanted to expand its accessibility, and over the last few months we worked on bringing it back to 1903 and 1909.”

As you may know, WSL 2 is arguably the single biggest change in Windows 10 version 2004, but given the slow rollout of this version, and the fact that Windows 10 versions 1903 and 1909 collectively account for over 80 percent of all Windows 10 PCs in use, this expansion in availability makes sense.

WSL 2 will only be available on x64 installs of Windows 10 versions 1903 and 1909; those running Windows 10 on ARM will need to upgrade to version 2004. To get it, just check for updates using Windows Update, and then follow the instructions on the Microsoft Docs website.

Tagged with Windows Subsystem for Linux, WSL