Ubuntu is now officially available for download via the Windows Store.

It’s finally happened, Ubuntu is now officially available for download via the Windows Store along with its step-siblings, SUSE and Fedora.

Ubuntu on Windows will give users access to Ubuntu Terminal and the ability to run Ubuntu command line utilities, like bash, ssh, git and apt. That said, Developers who are already running a Linux distro on their PCs should know that any flavor downloaded through the Windows Store will be confined to a sandbox (with limited interaction) with Windows. Plus, according to advice from the Microsoft blog, users running legacy distros should make the switch soon to safeguard against depreciation.

To install, go to the Control Panel and click the “Turn Windows features on or off” menu. Then pick “Windows subsystem for Linux.” Then reboot.

All in all, Ubuntu Installation through the Windows Store will make it much easier to install distros to secondary drives and run them side-by-side, and having Microsoft embrace the open-source community (whether for publicity or in earnest) will only be a good thing for future developers and students learning the ropes. Hopefully making it easier to download alternative distros will inspire more people to get involved in development.