At Microsoft's Build 2016 conference, the company shocked the tech world when it announced support for Bash shell and the entire Linux command line system on Windows 10. This year the surprise continued by extending its Linux love to SUSE and Fedora distributions as well.
With the first announcement, Microsoft tapped Ubuntu maker Canonical to help ensure smooth Bash performance on Windows as it is on the various Linux distributions. Well, today Canonical is officially releasing Ubuntu in the Windows Store for download right now. Microsoft's Rich Turner also released an official announcement that lays out the benefits of this Windows Store version of Ubuntu as well as some helpful FAQs.
Ubuntu (and SUSE and Fedora eventually) run in a sandboxed environment alongside Windows 10. This implementation also allows it to share hardware and files with Windows 10. This integrated approach allows developers to run Linux command line utilities without having to create a separate partition for dual-booting or creating a virtual machine. The Windows Store integration not only allows for simultaneous Linux distro installations, but also allows to run more than one at a time.
If you're interested in installing Ubuntu and testing it out yourself, navigate to Control Panel and select "Turn Windows features on or off". From there, select the "Windows Subsystem for Linux," which will allow Ubuntu to work. Restart your computer and welcome to this weird world where Microsoft and Linux work harmoniously.