Technically, WSL version 2 _is_ a VM based technology: "WSL 2 ... uses the latest and greatest in virtualization technology run a Linux kernel inside of a ligh

Technically, WSL version 2 _is_ a VM based technology: "WSL 2 ... uses the latest and greatest in virtualization technology run a Linux kernel inside of a lightweight utility virtual machine (VM)." https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/compare-versions https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/compare-versio... WSL1 is not a VM design, but that design reached its limits. A VM doesn't make it bad - I don't do a lot with WSL but I like it a lot. It's not slow or limited.