Linux Distros Won’t Work On Windows 10 S

In an official blog post, Microsoft has made clear that Windows 10 S users won’t be able to download Linux distros from Windows Store and run on their systems. Microsoft says that apps like command line apps, shells, and consoles won’t find a place on Windows 10 S. As the reason, the company says that such apps need more permissions as compared to usual Store apps.

During Build 2017, Microsoft announced that it’s bringing Ubuntu Linux, in addition to openSUSE and Fedora, to Windows Store. This means that now Windows 10 users will be able to simply look for these Linux distros on Windows Store and install them inside their Windows installation.

The same event also became a witness of another major announcement which dealt with the unveiling of a new version of Windows, i.e., Windows 10 S. This new version is supposed to only run applications downloaded via Windows Store. People assumed that this would allow them to run Linux distros on Windows 10 S. But, the reality is a little different.

In a recent blog post, Microsoft’s Rich Turner made clear that certain applications won’t be allowed to run Windows 10 S, including all command line apps, consoles, and shells.

This means that Linux distros–Ubuntu, Fedora, and openSUSE–won’t be allowed to run on Windows 10 S. Turner explains that these apps work outside the closed sandbox that Microsoft limits the most store apps to.

This announcement shouldn’t surprise most people as Microsoft has repeatedly outlined that Windows 10 S isn’t for everyone, it’s for students. However, the trends in education are changing, and students need more variety of tools to play with. It would be interesting to see how Microsoft manages to balance these two points.



[fossBytes]