One of the more interesting announcements from Microsoft Build 2026 wasn't AI-related at all. It was something called WSL Containers, which looks like it could really simplify running Linux containers on Windows.
Today, many of us running containers on Windows use tools such as Docker Desktop, Podman Desktop, or Rancher Desktop. Microsoft is now building container functionality directly into WSL with a new command-line utility called wslc.exe.
According to Microsoft, WSL Containers will provide:
- Native Linux container support in Windows
- A new
wslc.exeCLI for building and running containers - An API that allows Windows applications to launch and interact with Linux containers
- Enterprise policy for image sources and management
- Support for AI, development, testing, and containerized workloads directly through WSL
What caught my attention is that Microsoft says the command syntax is intentionally familiar to the well known Docker commands we know:
wslc run -it --rm -d -p 8080:80 --name web nginx
looks very similar to:
docker run -it --rm -d -p 8080:80 --name web nginx
The goal seems to be helping to get rid of the dependency on third-party container runtimes while making Linux containers feel like a native Windows capability. Behind the scenes, Microsoft is using a lightweight Hyper-V utility VM that is managed directly by WSL rather than requiring a separate Docker Desktop stack.
As a home labber, I think this is interesting for a few reasons:
- Easier container setup on Windows machines
- Potentially less overhead than running Docker Desktop (which we all know can be tempermental)
- Better integration between Windows and Linux workloads
- Simpler development environments for people who already use WSL
- Another reason to keep Windows as a viable development workstation instead of dual-booting Linux
Microsoft also announced several other developer-focused improvements that included news of native Linux Coreutils support on Windows and a new Intelligent Terminal experience, but WSL Containers was the standout announcement for me.
The feature is still in development and expected to arrive in public preview through a future WSL update.
What do you think?
If WSL Containers delivers good performance and compatibility, would you replace Docker Desktop on your Windows systems, or do you prefer sticking with traditional Docker and Linux VMs?