I’ve been using Windows and Linux, mostly side by side, for around twenty years now. Windows has always been my default, but I’ve always found myself switching to using Linux when I want to experiment. When Microsoft introduced the Windows Subsystem for Linux, it made my life a lot easier, as I didn’t need to rely on virtual machines or deal with dual booting.

I’ve come to realize that WSL has made using Windows 11 on my PC so much better. The lowered barriers between the two operating systems weren’t surprising, but what did surprise me was the unexpected ways WSL made using Windows 11 so much easier.

I use Linux apps and commands without leaving Windows a lot more often

I’m saving time and having fun doing it

When I first started using Linux, the only way to effectively use it on the PC I had was to dual-boot it. This was a nightmare, and on more than one occasion, I messed up my bootloader, making it impossible to boot back into Windows at all.

WSL takes away all of that friction, and as a result, I don’t need to dual-boot. I can use all of my favorite Linux commands using Windows Terminal, and they run just like they would on a dedicated Linux machine. It feels seamless, and instead of worrying about breaking my system, I can just focus on getting things done.

This doesn’t apply to just the built-in commands, either. WSL allows me to install Linux applications and run them directly on my Windows desktop as clearly as if I were running a distro like Ubuntu directly. WSL has been a game-changer, allowing me to run apps on my Windows PC without any bother.

I can share files between Linux and Windows easily

Windows Subsystem for Linux makes file management a breeze

One of my favorite things about WSL is how easy it is to share files between my primary Ubuntu WSL installation and Windows 11. There are no complex network shares or file permissions that I have to worry about setting up or manually configuring, because I can access my documents, desktop, and all my major directories via WSL (and vice versa) without much trouble.

I’ll admit that it never used to be this easy. When WSL came out on Windows 10, it didn’t feel as seamless, but using the newer WSL2 on Windows 11, it feels a lot simpler. On Linux, my Windows drive is simply pseudo-mounted under the /mnt folder, while I can access my primary Ubuntu installation using the \\wsl$ directory from File Explorer. I’ve rarely, if ever, encountered issues with getting to the files I need, either via File Explorer or using Windows Terminal.

Microsoft recommends against saving files across platforms, so save files you’ll generally use on Windows on your Linux storage, and vice versa. This is for performance reasons, but I’ve never seen a huge performance hit while accessing the documents and apps I use this way. Gaming or any apps that require fast storage access might suffer, however, although you’re unlikely to be gaming too hard in WSL.

I don’t need resource-heavy virtual machines anymore

I’ve banished those RAM and CPU bottlenecks pretty quickly

Before WSL, I wouldn't use Windows without having a virtual machine running on the side. I had VirtualBox VMs for a number of Linux distributions, as well as a few old Windows installations that I would sometimes spin up for testing. Virtual machines are a great way to test a system out, but they’re extremely resource-heavy. As my desktop PC gets older, I find that VMs become more and more sluggish to run effectively.

Windows Subsystem for Linux is a totally different beast. It’s still a virtual machine, but a much more lightweight one that is fast to set up, letting you run a full Linux environment alongside Windows without the overhead. Boot-up times are almost instant, and it feels just as powerful as running a native Linux installation, but without the constant drain on RAM and CPU.

This has had a real impact on my system resource usage when I’m using Linux apps. The simpler approach used by WSL2 makes it far less demanding on my PC, and I’m able to have more apps open at any one time as a result.

WSL is the best of both worlds for Linux and Windows power users

Windows Subsystem for Linux is one of the best features that Microsoft has introduced into the Windows operating system in years. It has completely changed how I approach using my PC. No longer do I need to dual-boot with a separate Linux distribution or worry about resource-heavy virtual machines, because I have a fully-fledged Linux installation that I can run alongside all of my daily driver Windows apps and services.

It also helps that you can have multiple WSL distributions installed. I like using Ubuntu for my day-to-day, but I always keep an Arch installation handy, just to play around with pacman and see what it can do. Switching to and from these different distros isn’t a problem.

WSL isn’t perfect, but if you’ve never used it before, it’s worth giving it a try. You can install different distributions in WSL, from Arch to Ubuntu, and you can quickly switch and swap between them to find what works for you.