**Windows Subsystem for Linux** (**WSL**) is the easiest way to run Linux on a Windows computers. Compared to a traditional virtual machine installation of Linux, WSL starts faster, and interacts with Windows files and folders without any extra setup. ## Step 1: Install Windows Terminal [Install the Windows Terminal through the Microsoft Store](https://aka.ms/terminal). This will give you a nice modern command-line for using WSL. ## Step 2: Installing WSL Follow the instructions here: [Installing WSL on Windows 10/11](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install). Use Windows 11 if you can, since that lets you run graphical Linux programs. WSL on Windows 10 does **not** support graphical Linux apps, just command-line programs. ## Step 3: Using WSL ### Getting to Your Files On Windows, the name of the main disk drive is usually "C:", and in WSL the C: drive is in the folder `/mnt/c`. Your desktop folder should be in `/mnt/c/Users/<loginname>`. For example, if your Windows login name is `bgates`, then the terminal command `cd /mnt/c/Users/bgates` should take you to your desktop folder. Any other disks you have can be accessed similarly, e.g. if you have a D: drive it's at `/mnt/d`. ### Editing Your Files The [VS Code text editor](https://code.visualstudio.com/) is an excellent (and free!) programming editor that also has direct support for WSL.