Trial version Windows 10 provides access to Linux file systems

Microsoft has released Windows 10 preview build 20211 to Windows Insiders running the OS in the Dev Channel. The most significant change is the ability to access Linux file systems, including through the explorer.

Test users running preview build 20211 of Windows 10 can mount a disk in Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 with for example ext4. Those who run Windows and Linux dualboot can access Linux files from Windows 10.

Users can mount drives in WSL 2 by entering Powershell with administrator privileges wsl --mount <DiskPath> to turn. The Linux files can also be accessed in the explorer after mounting, by navigating to wsl $ and opening the appropriate folder.

By default, WSL tries to mount 2 drives as ext4, but it is possible to specify other file systems. It is not yet possible to mount only partitions, only complete disks and there is also no support for USB sticks.

Another change with previewbuild 20211 is that it is possible to search by file type, protocol and apps when changing the default apps to open files. Microsoft has offered half of the Fast Ring test users that capability since April, but is now making the feature available to every Windows Insider in the Dev channel.