Microsoft new Windows 10 S only runs apps downloaded from the Store, right? So ideally, you should be able to download and run Linux apps from the Microsoft Store and install them on your PC. Is that right?
Wrong! You cannot download Linux apps onto your Windows 10 S PC. Despite the fact that they are available in the Store. So why not?
Well, Microsoft is actively blocking ‘command-line’ apps running outside the Windows 10 S safe environment. That is according to a blog post posted on Thursday by Microsoft senior program manager, Rich Turner.
Microsoft says Windows 10 S was created mainly for students and just about everyone else looking for an additional layer of security on their Windows 10 PC. As designed, Windows 10 S PCs only run apps from the Windows Store. These apps have been vetted by Microsoft before they appear on the Store.
However, Microsoft failed to make clear that these apps don’t run at a low level on Windows 10 S PCs. Not in the ways debuggers or other apps that explicitly write on hardware or modify the system registry do. And that is exactly what Linux apps do, and according to Turner, these apps will not run on the Windows 10 S.
Linux apps have “been deliberately constrained to prevent just these types of apps and tasks from running!” Despite the fact that Linux apps do install like Windows 10 UWP apps, they do behave like command-line tools, much like those that run outside the UWP sandbox and the secured runtime infrastructure.
The limitation is not just restricted to Linux apps only. Other low-level apps the Windows Console, CMD/PowerShell, and Linux/Bash/WSL will not run on Windows 10 S.