Windows Server will add the Linux subsystem, join the Insider program

Officially, it's so Linux admin scripts can run on Windows.

SEATTLE—When Microsoft first introduced the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) at last year's Build developer conference, it said that it was doing so to make developers who were familiar with the Linux command line feel comfortable on Windows. The immediate and inevitable question was "Well, what about Windows Server?" Development is one thing, but what if organizations wanted to occasionally deploy their Linux software on Windows?

Although Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10 share many components, the Server operating system hasn't thus far included WSL, consistent with the "developer only" rationale. But that's going to change: at Build this week, Microsoft announced that WSL will be included in Server later this year.

Microsoft still isn't positioning this as a way of running Linux server in production on Windows; rather, the company says the addition will be useful for administrative tasks. With WSL, Windows can run scripts written for Linux. But we're hard-pressed to see things stopping there; it seems inevitable that at some point, Windows will offer the ability to run Linux server software as one of its features.

Until now, Windows Server 2016 has largely been equivalent to Windows 10 LTSB, the Long Term Servicing Branch that offers infrequent releases and a stable feature set. LTSB doesn't get the feature pack updates every six months. Rather, it's much more like "traditional" Windows: a new release will be made every two to three years. These releases will be synchronized between Windows on the desktop and Windows Server; the 2016 Windows 10 LTSB release is equivalent to Windows Server 2016.

But going forward, Microsoft is going to offer more flexibility. Starting in the summer, Windows Server is joining the Windows Insider program, with Microsoft offering regular preview builds of the server operating system. Windows Server 2016 will also receive a feature update aligned with the Fall Creators Update.

Companies won't have to use these feature updates and can of course stick with the LTSB versions, but this new approach means that organizations that are keen to get their hands on, for example, the latest improvements to container support or the newest Hyper-V features—including some features already available on the Windows desktop—won't have to wait until the next LTSB release in 2019.