Linux-based Windows makes perfect sense

ZDNet ^ | 30 September 2020 | Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

[ShadowAce]

A few days ago, Eric S. Raymond (ESR), developer and writer, suggested that we're nearing the last phase of the desktop wars. The winner? Windows… running on Linux. 

He's on to something. I've long thought that Microsoft was considering migrating the Windows interface to running on the Linux kernel. Why?

Raymond argues that "WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) allows unmodified Linux binaries to run under Windows 10. No emulation, no shim layer, they just load and go." Indeed, you can run standard Linux programs now on WSL2 without any trouble. 

That's because Linux is well on its way to becoming a first-class citizen on the Windows desktop. Multiple Linux distros, starting with Ubuntu, Red Hat Fedora, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED), now run smoothly on WSL2. That's because  Microsoft has replaced its WSL1 translation layer, which converted Linux kernel calls into Windows calls, with WSL2. With WSL2  Microsoft's own Linux kernel is running on a thin version of the Hyper-V hypervisor. 

That's not all. With the recent Windows 10 Insider Preview build 20211, you can now access Linux file systems, such as ext4, from Windows File Manager and PowerShell. On top of that, Microsoft developers are making it easy to run Linux graphical applications on Windows. 

Besides Microsoft working its hardest to marry the Windows desktop with Linux, Raymond pointed out others are working to make it easier to run Windows applications on Linux. In particular, he points to Valve's Proton, a Wine-based compatibility layer developed for running Windows Steam games on Linux. "The thing about games is that they are the most demanding possible stress test for a Windows emulation layer, much more so than business software." If you can run Windows games on Linux, why not Windows business applications?

He also observed, correctly, that Microsoft no longer depends on Windows for its cash flow but on its Azure cloud offering. Which, by the way, is running more Linux instances than it is Windows Server instances.  

So, that being the case, why should Microsoft keep pouring money into the notoriously trouble-prone Windows kernel -- over 50 serious bugs fixed in the last Patch Tuesday roundup -- when it can use the free-as-in-beer Linux kernel? Good question. He thinks Microsoft can do the math and switch to Linux.

I think he's right. Besides his points, there are others. Microsoft already wants you to replace your existing PC-based software, like Office 2019, with software-as-a-service (SaaS) programs like Office 365. Microsoft also encourages you to move your voice, video, chat, and texting to Microsoft's Azure Communication Services (ACS) even if you don't use Teams.

With SaaS programs, Microsoft doesn't care what operating system you're running. They're still going to get paid whether you run Office 365 on Windows, a Chromebook, or, yes, Linux. 

I see two possible paths ahead for Windows. First, there's Linux-based Windows. It simply makes financial sense. Or, the existing Windows desktop being replaced by the Windows Virtual Desktop or other Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) offerings. 

Of course, even if Microsoft goes all in with a DaaS approach -- and I think it will -- it'll still need a common base operating system. This, like Chrome OS, will provide just enough of an operating system to run a browser with a minimum of other local resources. 

Google chose to save money and increase security by using Linux as the basis for Chrome OS. This worked out really well for Google. It can for Microsoft with -- let's take a blast from the past -- and call it Lindows as well.

[HamiltonJay]

So effectively put a windowing UI on a Unix Kernel?

Hmmmm. You mean like OSX?

[dayglored]

Windows on Linux Kernel - Wow! ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

Thanks to ShadowAce for the ping!

[usconservative]

The 80’s and early 90’s were physical serial terminal connections, not the same thing. I remember those days, I was a Unix Admin back in those days (Solaris primarily) at a large, Chicago Loop based lawfirm who was handling asbestos claims against PPG.

[rockrr]

I’ve been happily retired from the rat race for 18 months now. Your post reminded me of the always stressful Patch Tuesday with it’s deadlines and the required testing and reams of documentation - and that’s if everything went OK!

[Carriage Hill]

I’m still running Win-7 Pro x64 on two 2006 HP Industrial-grade machines, using Norton 360 and MalwareBytes Premium, along w/ CCleaner Premium, and have never had a problem. Never. I turned-off Win Defender, Update and all MS’ crap over a year ago.

[zeugma]

Frankly, I’m not really too terribly interested in microsoft co-opting Linux. Microsoft has long been known, from a programming perspective, to be able to screw up an anvil. I can see all kinds of stupidity like the ‘registry’ being shoehorned into Linux environments. Can’t say I’m a big fan of the entire embrace, extend, extinguish philosophy of microsoft culture.

Besides, they don’t even know how to properly delimit a directory. Everyone knows you use a /, not a \.

[frog in a pot]

Thanks! bfl

[ibheath]

I understand the appeal from a cost perspective, but I work in Healthcare IT, and the constant issues we face from network issues make me extremely reluctant to require internet to be able to do any work at all. Also, from a personal perspective, I prefer buying software once, and not paying a subscription for it forever.

[upchuck]

Why would I want to run Windows 10 on Linux? If I switch it will be for Windows 7 type. But Windows 7 still works for me thank you very much.

BUMP!!

Agree 100%.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

I can see this happening and had actually come to this same conclusion myself a while back. This would be a hugely positive development for Linux in the sense that hardware support for new devices in the Linux kernel would now be mandatory for any device maker. It could be a negative as well with the Microsoft tail wagging the Linux dog.

The interesting question is does this brave new world have NTFS still with its case insensitivity and backwards slashes and Powershell as its scripting language? I wager that it would as that migration would be too hard. And also consider things like Exchange and AD. So even if this did happen it’s still gonna seem like yukky windoze to me.

[usconservative]

And then there's all the HIPAA laws that stand in the way of doing anything in the cloud for healthcare.

The technical part of me wants to ask: what network issues do you face on a daily basis within the hospital? Are you losing network connectivity? Are apps/services slow to respond?

[miliantnutcase]

The new Doom uses Vulkan runtime which can run on Linux ;-)

[AppyPappy]

We could call it XWindows

[Calvin Locke]

Just curious how this will work in the real world.

Look up the Office 365, Microsoft Teams outage last week, and what/who was impacted.

[Wilhelm Tell]

I did experience the Office 365 outage last week - suddenly I could not use my e-mail and other things and it lasted an hour or so, I think. I know the cloud has its advantages but any glitch can affect millions of people.

[Wilhelm Tell]

XP forever! :-)

[IndispensableDestiny]

The 80’s and early 90’s were physical serial terminal connections, not the same thing.

Nope. With an ethernet (or other supported) connection you could "network boot" a workstation which would download a non-persistent copy of the OS. These were diskless clients that used NFS for file access. The would boot SunView, later NeWS, and even later OpenWindows. NeWS was replaced by the X system. In Solaris, OpenWindows was replaced by the Common Desktop Environment.

We remotely managed Suns via remote terminal, but locally had a few diskless workstations.

[Wilhelm Tell]

Lindows?

[redcatcherb412]

Dropped Windows over a year ago and boot up and run Linux off an SSD.

[Dead Corpse]

I wonder if Torvald’s is sending Gates snarky emails...