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Microsoft’s WSL Containers feature is generally available as of September 29, 2026. It adds a built-in command-line interface and an API for running Linux containers through Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). “Directly into Windows” means the feature is integrated with WSL—not that Linux containers run on the Windows kernel without a Linux environment.
What Microsoft added to WSL
WSL Containers has two main parts: wslc.exe, a command-line tool included with WSL, and an API that Windows applications can use to pull, run, and interact with Linux containers. Microsoft also provides container.exe as an alias for the CLI. The API has C, C#, and C++ projections; Microsoft notes that its C++/WinRT projection remains in preview and may have breaking changes. Microsoft’s GA announcement and the WSL container documentation describe the current feature.
Microsoft first announced the components at Build 2026 and made them available in public preview on June 29, 2026. The general-availability release on September 29, 2026 supersedes that preview status and adds capabilities released since then.
What you can do with WSL Containers
The built-in workflow covers common container tasks: running images, publishing ports, listing and stopping containers, building an image from a project, viewing logs, and executing commands inside a running container. Microsoft’s getting-started tutorial demonstrates running a web app locally and accessing it from Windows through localhost.
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The GA release also adds commands and controls for broader day-to-day use:
- Restart containers and copy files to or from them.
- Inspect environment information and stream events in real time.
- Connect or disconnect networks, run health checks, and configure stop timeouts.
- Mount storage and set a configurable default storage path.
For managed organizations, Microsoft says Intune can enable or disable WSL Containers and restrict image pulls to approved registries. Microsoft also says Defender for Endpoint integration can surface process, file, and network activity from WSL containers and associate that activity with the Windows host. These are enterprise management and visibility features, not requirements for an individual developer to use the CLI.
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Requirements and first run
Microsoft’s current overview and tutorial require WSL version 2.9.3 or later. Update WSL, check the installed versions, and run a test image from a Windows terminal:
- Update WSL with
wsl --update. Alternatively, install the latest WSL release from Microsoft’s GitHub releases. - Check the WSL version with
wsl --version. - Check the container CLI with
wslc version. - Verify the built-in workflow by running
wslc run --rm hello-world.
The documented wslc workflow does not require a separate container engine installation. For project files, Microsoft recommends using the Linux filesystem when working with Linux tools in WSL; accessing files across the Windows/Linux filesystem boundary can add overhead. Microsoft’s GA announcement claims up to 2x faster performance when accessing Windows files from Linux environments, but that is Microsoft’s stated improvement for that scenario, not an independent comparison of container tools or a guarantee that every filesystem trade-off disappears. Microsoft’s announcement provides that qualification.
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How it fits with Docker Desktop and other tools
WSL Containers is an additional built-in option, not a declaration that existing container tools are obsolete. Microsoft’s preview announcement names Docker Desktop, Podman Desktop, and Rancher Desktop as tools built on WSL that can benefit from lower-level WSL changes. Microsoft’s Windows containers overview still links to Docker Desktop setup. Teams should weigh their existing workflows, editor support, storage needs, networking, GPU requirements, enterprise controls, and the tools they already use; Microsoft’s materials do not establish a controlled performance comparison or show that one option is universally superior.
Compose support is not listed as a delivered GA capability. In its September 29 announcement, Microsoft describes wslc compose as a top feature request and a focus for future iterations, with the aim of supporting existing compose.yaml files unchanged. Treat that as roadmap intent, not current functionality.
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What “running containers directly on Windows” means
Linux containers share a Linux kernel. Microsoft’s older Linux-container setup guide, last updated January 27, 2025, describes the earlier Docker Desktop and virtualization-based approach and says Linux containers cannot run directly on Windows under that setup without virtualization. WSL Containers changes the available workflow by integrating container commands and an API into WSL; it does not remove the Linux environment needed to run Linux containers.
For developers who want a WSL-provided CLI or want Windows applications to invoke Linux containers through an API, WSL Containers is now a documented built-in path. Developers relying on Compose or an established desktop-container workflow should check whether their required features are supported before changing tools.
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