Microsoft's own distro lurks under the covers and applications magically appear in the Start menu Tim Anderson Fri 23 Apr 2021 // 10:46 UTC Share Copy Hands on Microsoft has released the first public preview of Linux GUI applications on Windows 10 – so we wasted no time in taking it for a spin around the block. The ability to run GUI applications on Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 is not new – enthusiasts have been able to run them via separately installed X server utilities for years – but the arrival of official support is still something of a game changer. The official support is more ambitious and better integrated than the various unofficial approaches.