Microsoft makes WSL permanently available on Windows 11 via Store download

Microsoft is making the Windows Subsystem for Linux available as a separate app in the Microsoft Store for Windows 11. A preview of the app was previously available in the app store. Users can also install WSL via the command line.

Microsoft writes in a blog post that it is making the app available in Preview Build 22518 in Windows 11’s Dev Channel. Previously, the WSL app was already available in preview in the Store. Previously it was only possible to install WSL via the command line. You can still do that, but now wsl.exe -install automatically installs the Store version of WSL. In addition, Microsoft has added several additional arguments to the cli installation. The company only mentions wsl -install –no-launch as an example, but says that all new commands can be seen via the help function.

The Windows 11 preview has several other changes. One of these is the addition of Spotlight for the desktop, where users can get a number of new wallpapers every day with pictures of places on Earth. That function is not yet available in the Netherlands, but Microsoft says that other countries will follow “in the future”. The Widgets function in Windows 11 is also more easily accessible via the weather app in the taskbar and users can now control their operating system via voice. This feature is primarily intended for people with disabilities. They can use speech to switch between programs, visit web pages, and read and dictate e-mails. The feature works offline, but only in US English.