In this article, we will tell you how to enable WSL2 and install a Linux Distro of your choice. In the above image, you can see that a linux terminal is running on a windows PC just like Windows PowerShell. If you are a guy who believes more in seeing stuff rather than reading about that stuff, you can have a look at the photo mentioned below. You can execute the command code file_name from the Linux Kernel to open a file in VS Code (which is installed in Windows). Moreover, if you use WSL, you can use programs installed on Windows from the Linux kernel.You do not have to manage this environment - it will update alongside Windows. Moreover, the file mounting/sharing, command running, and networking between your Windows desktop environment and the WSL2 environment is seamless and nearly instant on launch. The process is same as opening CMD or PowerShell in Windows. It takes less than a second to load the Linux Kernel. Also, if you need to access files stored in the main OS or internet from within the Virtual Machine (Guest OS), you need to install multiple drivers which makes it a very complex process.

When you use VMWare or Virtual Box, you can run Linux (with GUI) inside Windows but it takes a lot of time to load.Some of you may have even used one of them. Some of the most popular ones are Virtual Box, VMWare etc.

There are many virtualization software available in the market today.

But if you use WSL, you can use both the OS simultaneously without the need to switch the OS.

This means that you CANNOT run both the OS at the same time.

Dual Booting means installing multiple operating systems on a single computer, and being able to choose which one to boot.

Get Best of Windows and Linux in a single OS How is WSL different than Dual Booting OR running a virtualization software ?

How to use virtualbox for a dual boot