The announcement of Windows 10 S already raised many eyebrows. But ahead of any final picture, Microsoft has suggested that it is actively blocking Linux apps on Windows 10 S.
According to an official explanatory note by Microsoft’s Rich Turner, Windows 10 S does not run any command line applications due to user safety. The limitation includes Linux/Bash/WSL instances as well as Windows Console and cmd/PowerShell.
“Windows 10 S does not run command-line applications, nor the Windows Console, Cmd/PowerShell, or Linux/Bash/WSL instances since command-line apps run outside the safe environment that protects Windows 10 S from malicious/misbehaving software,” said Turner, senior product manager, Microsoft.
Explaining further about the latest limitation, Microsoft claims that due to “an exotic type of app package” nature of Linux distros, they can run outside the UWP sandbox and secure runtime infrastructure. “They run with the capabilities granted to the local user — in the same way as Cmd and PowerShell do. This is why Linux distros don’t run on Windows 10 S,” the executive stated.
Microsoft has designed Windows 10 S specifically for students. The operating system comes with features loaded to attract education sector and counter Google’s Chrome OS, which presently leads the market of education-focused platforms in the US.
Since the new Windows OS is built for students, the users were expected to get some experience of Linux platform. However, things are not favourable for the open source community.
Linux in Windows Store
The latest announcement has emerged following the release of Linux distributions in Windows Store. The Redmond giant brought platforms including Ubuntu, SUSE Linux and Fedora that are available for devices running on only Windows 10 Pro.
