Microsoft says it's working on bringing Ubuntu, SUSE Linux, and Fedora to the Windows Store
Tech Roundup Abhimanyu Ghoshal / The Next Web : Microsoft brings Fedora, SUSE, and Ubuntu Linux to the Windows Store Terry Myerson / Windows Blog : Build 2017: Sparking the next wave of creativity with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Tom Warren / The Verge : Microsoft debuts OneDrive Files On-Demand, which selectively downloads files when needed, available as part of the Fall Creators Update
Context & Ripple Effects
At Build 2017, Microsoft committed to listing Ubuntu, SUSE Linux, and Fedora in the Windows Store — a formalization of the Linux-on-Windows push that had already begun with the Windows Subsystem for Linux. The plan landed on schedule: Ubuntu arrived in the Store that July, running sandboxed inside Windows 10 and aimed at command-line work like bash and SSH.
The announcement sits inside a broader Build 2017 platform story — the Fall Creators Update also introduced OneDrive Files On-Demand — but the Linux listings are the durable piece. A year later Microsoft shipped an open-source tool for packaging custom Linux distributions for Windows 10, and by 2026 the pattern had grown into WSL containers and Linux-like Coreutils utilities, showing the Store-as-Linux-distribution-rail became a lasting architecture rather than a one-off.
First-order effects
- Ubuntu, SUSE, and Fedora gain a first-party distribution channel on Windows, letting developers install a Linux environment from the Store instead of dual-booting or managing VMs.
- The Windows Store's catalog shifts from consumer apps toward developer tooling, with Terry Myerson's Windows team positioning Linux compatibility as a Windows 10 feature.
Second-order effects
- Enterprise developers locked to Windows desktops get sanctioned Linux environments, reducing one of the main reasons to keep a separate Linux machine or server for tooling.
- The Store's role as a gatekeeper for even OS-level distributions raises the stakes on Store openness — pressure that resurfaced in 2021 when Microsoft moved to let developers submit unpackaged Win32 apps and use third-party commerce platforms.
Third-order effects
- If the arc holds, Windows settles into a long-term position as a Linux host platform — the 2026 WSL containers and Coreutils announcement suggest the Store-distributed subsystem became core infrastructure rather than an experiment.
- Distro vendors' relationship to Microsoft inverts: SUSE and Fedora, historically alternatives to Windows, become content suppliers inside it, with distribution power concentrating in whoever controls the storefront.
The trend: Windows is being repositioned as a Linux-compatible development platform, with the Microsoft-controlled Store as the distribution rail for entire operating systems.