Microsoft quietly announced upcoming WSL upgrades, including a "more streamlined first-time setup and onboarding"

Last week came to a close with Microsoft announcing some significant developments for the future of Windows 11.

While many of us were focused on the meat of the announcement — and the fact we'll be able to move the taskbar again at last — buried further down were some nuggets of interest to WSL users.

It's not exactly heavy on details, but there's a little section titled "elevating the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) experience." Here's what's on deck:

• Faster file performance between Linux and Windows
• Improved network compatibility and throughput
• More streamlined first-time setup and onboarding experience
• Better enterprise management with stronger policy control, security and governance

Like I said, it's not heavy on details.

But what's there is still interesting. The first thing that grabbed my attention is the setup and onboarding experience. In the early days, installing WSL on Windows was a pretty involved process.

Now, it's as simple as entering a single command into the terminal or downloading WSL from the Microsoft Store. You still have to get set up with your distros, but it's already a pretty streamlined process. I'm curious to see where else it goes.

Faster interoperability between the two file systems will always be welcomed. After all, who doesn't want to go faster? The networking improvements will also be welcomed with open arms, for while I've never had issues myself, I am aware that there are circumstances out there that can cause problems in some use cases.

I've always thought WSL is one of Microsoft's secret weapons in Windows and should be shouted out at every available opportunity. I'm just a regular person who likes tinkering with Linux, and I love it. But for developers, system admins, and folks who need to have access to Linux tools on a regular basis, Windows 11 is a compelling option.

With WSL you don't necessarily need to deal with VMs (though there may still be cases to do so), as you can just open Windows Terminal and get right to it. Proper Linux with a proper Linux kernel and even support for GUI applications, and it's able to talk to your Windows system mostly seamlessly. What's not to love?

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