{"id":4201,"date":"2020-06-17T19:43:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T19:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviancetechnologies.com\/blog\/blog\/windows-10s-linux-subsystem-gets-gpu-compute-and-an-easier-install-in-new-preview\/"},"modified":"2020-06-17T19:43:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T19:43:00","slug":"windows-10s-linux-subsystem-gets-gpu-compute-and-an-easier-install-in-new-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviancetechnologies.com\/blog\/windows-10s-linux-subsystem-gets-gpu-compute-and-an-easier-install-in-new-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows 10’s Linux subsystem gets GPU compute and an easier install in new preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0
\n[responsivevoice_button rate=”1\u2033 pitch=”1.2\u2033 volume=”0.8\u2033 voice=”US English Female” buttontext=”Story in Audio”]<\/p>\n

Windows 10’s Linux subsystem gets GPU compute and an easier install in new preview<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Microsoft released improvements to its Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL) in a Windows 10 preview build on Wednesday, with features benefiting newcomers and developers alike. As part of the update, WSL2 can now perform GPU compute functions, including using Nvidia\u2019s CUDA technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new additions deliver on the promises Microsoft made at May\u2019s Build 2020 conference, where the company also teased graphical user interface support for the Windows Subsystem for Linux. We\u2019re still waiting on those capabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WSL\u2019s improvements are part of Windows 10 Build 20150, part of the Dev Channel of Insider builds. Formerly known as the Fast Ring, the Dev Channel is devoted to testing new features which aren\u2019t necessarily tied to any upcoming Windows 10 feature release.<\/p>\n

Simplifying the installation process<\/h2>\n

As the name suggests, the Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 allows you to run a Linux kernel from within Windows. WSL2 doesn\u2019t perform quite as well as a full-fledged Linux distribution running natively on the hardware, but it\u2019s close<\/a>. WSL2 isn\u2019t natively integrated into Windows, either. It\u2019s an optional feature that you can choose to enable using the \u201cTurn Windows features on and off\u201d Control Panel within Windows 10, which will then download the necessary files and ask you to reboot your PC.<\/p>\n

One of Build 20150\u2019s new features tries to simplify that further. By typing\u00a0wsl<\/span>.<\/span>exe\u00a0<\/span>\u2014<\/span>install<\/span><\/strong> as a command, Windows will take care of all of the configuration. (It\u2019s not entirely clear whether that command can be run from the Command Line app, or if it requires the PowerShell interface.) According to a blog post<\/a> authored by Windows program manager\u00a0Craig Loewen, Microsoft plans to support automatic installation of a Linux distribution within WSL as well sometime in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Similarly, users can type in\u00a0wsl<\/span>.<\/span>exe\u00a0<\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/strong>update<\/strong> to update the Linux kernel,\u00a0wsl.<\/span>exe\u00a0\u2014<\/span>update\u00a0\u2014<\/span>status<\/strong> to check the status of the kernel, and\u00a0wsl.<\/span>exe\u00a0\u2014<\/span>update\u00a0\u2014<\/span>rollback<\/strong> to roll back the kernel to a previous version. According to Loewen, the Linux kernel updates will actually be managed by Windows Update and automatically download to your PC. The commands are there, however, to provide fine-grained control over the process, he wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

GPU compute support, too<\/span><\/h2>\n

For those of you who want to dive a bit deeper into Linux, Microsoft has now implemented GPU compute support, which has been supported in hardware\u00a0(and Linux) for close to a decade. It\u2019s a new feature for WSL2, however\u2014remember, WSL2 is moving closer to offering all of the capabilities that a native Linux installation does, but it\u2019s not there yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201dThis preview will initially support artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) workflows, enabling professionals and students alike to run ML training workloads across the breadth of GPUs in the Windows ecosystem,\u201d the company said in a blog post<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n