Microsoft’s romance with Linux over the last few years has reached new heights: developers will now be able to run Linux apps with an honest-to-goodness GUI directly in Windows 10.

Developers previously had access to a Linux kernel and a terminal app with the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), but the emphasis was on command-line tools. They could even run GUI apps in Windows 10 with some workarounds, but this is the first time they’re getting native support for the feature.  Behold:

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This lets developers test and build Linux GUI apps without leaving the Windows environment, giving them access to GPU acceleration and better performance than you’d get with a virtual machine. Developers interested in using 3D acceleration will need to do a few things first, but Microsoft plans to include it by default in future builds of the WSL.

Linux GUI support arrives with the Windows Insider Build 21364. For more information, you can read Microsoft’s blog post here.

Via The Verge

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