Ubuntu Desktop on Windows

Question

One of my friends is a real Linux fan, so I decided to try Ubuntu on a VM. I mostly enjoyed the experience, but it was very slow, which I assume is the fault VirtualBox, as my laptop has 16 gigs of ram and an i7 6500u. Partly out of a desire to make sure it works for me, and partly out of thinking "this would be cool," I downloaded the Windows subsystem for Linux. It has official support from Microsoft, and it is specialized for just one OS, so I figured that it would be faster and closer to the performance I can expect were it my primary OS. However, it is only the terminal, not the full DE. Anyway, I had some fun with text-based programs like Lynx, but wanted more. With a few guides from the internet, I downloaded an X server to Windows, and got Ubuntu to use that. Now I can run Ubuntu apps mostly natively, interacting with other windows just like regular programs. However, this still is not how I would use Ubuntu; I want a desktop environment. I ran

sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop and then startx,

but that didn't work, throwing the error "Fatal server error: xf86OpenConsole: Switching VT failed." Can anyone help?

P.S. I know I could run both OS's partitioned, but putting that aside, it would be very cool to run Linux apps inside Windows.

Answer 1

I would suggest that you install a lighter desktop than ubuntu in WSL. XFCE seems to work fine with WSL.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install xfce4
startxfce4

Answer 2

If you only want to try Ubuntu I suggest running Ubuntu from USB stick (Ubuntu Live)

• https://unetbootin.github.io/ - You can try this tool to prepare USB stick.

There also other options:

• https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu#0
• https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-windows#0

There You can try it without installing it on HDD. If You like it you can divide your drive into two partitions and on first install Windows, on second Linux and you can use both system on your computer.