Microsoft announced that they are backporting the Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2) distros to Windows 10 version 1903, and Windows 10 version 1909. Redmond based software giant said that it took over the last few months to bring it to Windows 10 version 1903 and 1909.
The backported WSL2 support comes to x64 systems only via a cumulative update (KB4571748) for those listed two Windows 10 versions and is currently being rollout out to the users.
According to Microsoft, they have received feedback from customers enjoying Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2) on Windows 10 system which resulted in them backporting to Windows 10 version 1903 and 1909 and make it available to more customers.
WSL2 is a new version of the architecture in WSL that changes how Linux distributions interact with Windows. Each Linux distribution can run as WSL1 or as WSL2 and can be switched between at any time.
Currently, the backported WSL2 support is available for Windows 10 version 1903, 1909, and will only be for x64 systems. If you are using an ARM64 version, you will need to upgrade to Windows 10 version 2004 to gain full access to WSL2.
Microsoft said that you can check if you have this backport by verifying the minor build number of your Windows build. To do this, right-click on the start menu, click "Run" (Win + R) and then type in "winver" and hit Enter. If you have the minor build number 1049 or higher, that means that you have the backport and the ability to run the WSL2 distros.
To manually download the update, you can visit the Update Catalog here.