Linux kernel updates will soon be included in Windows Update

As both Microsoft Windows and Linux fans probably know, Microsoft announced the appearance of Windows Subsystem for Linux back in 2019.

This system, also known as WSL, is a compatibility layer for running Linux binary executables natively on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019. Back in 2019, WSL 2 was made available to the Windows 10 customers through the Windows Insider program.

However, this will soon change, as Microsoft announced that not only is WSL2 going to be generally available in Windows 10 version 2004, but also that the Linux kernel will be updated through Windows Update.

Linux kernel updates will be delivered faster and easier

The reason behind this change seems to be the fact that Microsoft removed the Linux kernel from the Windows OS image. The change in the way the updates will be made available will allow Microsoft to push out updates faster than before.

This will allow a greater degree of automation of the update process. More so, it will also ensure that the Linux kernel is updated on a worldwide scale more efficiently.

For now, the company says that people on the Windows Insiders slow ring will have to manually install the kernel. However, Windows Update will take over in a few months and this will no longer be the case.

In their blog post, they stated that:

Our end goal is for this change to be seamless, where your Linux kernel is kept up to date without you needing to think about it. By default this will be handled entirely by Windows, just like regular updates on your machine.

However, no official launch date has been made available, but now at least you know you won’t have too much to wait for. Until then, you can grab the latest WSL2 kernel version from Microsoft’s website.

What do you think about this completely new update delivery method that Microsoft has come up with? Let us know by leaving a message in the comments section below.

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