Microsoft has quietly confirmed that its pre-release Windows Subsystem for Linux container feature — often referred to as WSLc — now works on Windows 10. The confirmation came directly from Craig Loewen, the product manager who leads WSL development, in a statement to Windows Latest. Any Windows 10 PC capable of running WSL 2 can now spin up Linux containers natively, without installing Docker or any other third-party tooling.

The concrete change: WSL containers land on Windows 10

The pivot is simple but significant. Until now, the built-in container runtime inside WSL was offered only to Windows 11 users through a preview update. The feature brings a minimal, OCI-compliant container stack — containerd and its CLI companion ctr — directly into the WSL 2 environment. It lets developers pull, run, and manage container images straight from the Linux distribution running under WSL, with no extra daemon or desktop application required.

Microsoft is not yet shouting from the rooftops. The capability remains in preview, and the official documentation still points primarily at Windows 11. But Loewen’s confirmation means that Windows 10 version 2004 or later (build 19041 and above) — the baseline for WSL 2 — can join the party. Simply update WSL from the Microsoft Store or via wsl --update, and the container toolchain becomes available.

No special Insider build is needed. The required components ship with the current Store version of the Windows Subsystem for Linux. If you already keep WSL current, you have everything you need.

What it means for you

For developers

If you build, test, or ship Linux containers, WSLc eliminates the need to install Docker Desktop — a tool that has become heavier and, for enterprise users, license-encumbered. Microsoft describes the native solution as a “developer-friendly” way to work with OCI containers. You get a lightweight containerd instance managed by WSL itself, with no background service chewing through RAM when idle.

VS Code and other dev tools can hook into the container runtime just as they do with Docker’s socket, though you may need to adjust environment variables. Workflows that rely on docker-compose will need some rethinking; the native stack uses nerdctl (a Docker-compatible CLI for containerd), which covers most day-to-day commands but doesn’t replicate every Docker Compose feature yet. For greenfield projects or scripting, the built-in tools are perfectly adequate.

For students and home lab users

A common frustration with Docker Desktop is its resource footprint. WSL 2 already handles memory well, and adding containers on top doesn’t inflate usage beyond what the workloads demand. On a machine with 8 GB of RAM, the difference between running Docker Desktop and the native WSL container stack can be the difference between a usable system and one that grinds to a halt.

The learning curve is gentle. The same nerdctl run, nerdctl build, and nerdctl push commands that you would use on a standalone Linux server work inside WSL. And because everything stays inside the WSL 2 virtual machine, file-system performance remains fast.

For IT admins and enterprise environments

Microsoft’s move doesn’t deprecate Docker or Kubernetes, but it does offer a Microsoft-supported alternative that can be managed through familiar Windows update pipelines. Admins who have already standardized on WSL 2 for developer machines can now add container tooling without additional third-party software or license management.

Security teams may appreciate the isolation model. Containers run inside the lightweight WSL 2 utility VM, which already sits in a Hyper-V boundary. That’s an extra layer of separation compared to running Docker on bare Windows Server, though the threat model is similar to any VM-hosted container runtime.

How we got here

Microsoft’s container-on-Windows story has been winding for years.

  • 2016: Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL 1) arrived, giving developers a text-mode Linux environment without virtualization. It translated Linux syscalls to Windows kernel calls, but wasn’t compatible with Docker.
  • 2019–2020: WSL 2 shipped with a real Linux kernel inside a lightweight VM. Docker Desktop quickly adopted WSL 2 as its preferred backend, letting Windows users run Linux containers with near-native I/O speed.
  • Late 2022: Microsoft published a blog post titled “A preview of WSL in the Microsoft Store is now available to Windows Insiders” and, tucked inside, announced experimental support for running Linux containers directly from WSL without Docker. The feature required a Store version of WSL and initially targeted Windows 11 Insiders.
  • 2023: Updates to the WSL Store app (version 0.70 and later) bundled containerd and ctr. Users who ran wsl --update --pre-release on Windows 11 could use the new container commands. Windows 10 was left out of the official documentation, though some users reported it worked if they forced the update.
  • Now (2025): Craig Loewen’s confirmation to Windows Latest formalizes what tinkerers already knew: the container runtime is not artificially locked to Windows 11. Any Windows 10 machine on version 2004 or higher with a current WSL 2 installation can use it.

Behind the scenes, Microsoft has been steering developers toward a future where WSL is the one-stop shop for Linux workloads on Windows. WSLg brought GUI app support; WSL systemd support (added in 2022) made it possible to run background services inside WSL; and this container runtime completes the picture for modern cloud-native development.

What to do now: a quick start guide

Step 1 — Verify your Windows 10 build
Press Win + R, type winver, and look for “Version 2004” or higher (build 19041 or above). If you’re on an older version, you’ll need to upgrade via Windows Update before proceeding.

Step 2 — Enable WSL 2
Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

wsl --install

If WSL is already installed but running version 1, upgrade your distribution:

wsl --set-version <distro-name> 2

Step 3 — Update WSL from the Microsoft Store
The inbox version won’t contain the latest container bits. Install or update the “Windows Subsystem for Linux” app from the Microsoft Store. Alternatively, force the latest bits with:

wsl --update
wsl --update --pre-release   # if you want absolute newest features

Step 4 — Launch WSL and start containerd
From your WSL prompt (Ubuntu, Debian, etc.), run:

sudo containerd

To run it as a background service, leverage the systemd support now built into WSL:

sudo systemctl enable containerd
sudo systemctl start containerd

Step 5 — Install nerdctl (the Docker-compatible CLI)
The ctr client that ships with containerd is low-level. For a more familiar Docker-like experience, download nerdctl:

wget https://github.com/containerd/nerdctl/releases/latest/download/nerdctl-full-linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf nerdctl-full-linux-amd64.tar.gz -C /usr/local

Step 6 — Pull and run a container
Now use nerdctl just like Docker:

nerdctl pull nginx:alpine
nerdctl run -d -p 8080:80 nginx:alpine

Open your Windows browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080. You should see the Nginx welcome page.

Current limitations to keep in mind
- The containerd socket lives at /run/containerd/containerd.sock, not the default Docker socket, so update your environment variable (DOCKER_HOST=unix:///run/containerd/containerd.sock) if your tools rely on it.
- Docker Compose works with nerdctl compose, but some advanced features (like buildkit integration) may not be fully wired up.
- Networking is local to the WSL VM; port forwarding to Windows works automatically for simple cases, but custom bridge networks require extra setup.
- The feature is still in preview. Expect bugs. Microsoft hasn’t committed to a general-availability date.

Outlook

Craig Loewen’s off-the-cuff confirmation to a news outlet might seem minor, but it signals that Microsoft sees WSL Containers as a durable feature, not just a Windows 11 perk. By letting Windows 10 into the tent, the company ensures the largest possible user base can test and harden the experience.

The road ahead likely includes tighter VS Code integration, a first-party nerdctl package shipped with WSL, and eventually a GA release that stands on its own as a supported container runtime. For the millions of developers who still rely on Windows 10 as their daily driver — and who’ve watched Docker Desktop’s licensing tighten — this is a welcome, and genuinely practical, alternative.