.NET
Don't ask Microsoft to do it all
A five-million-line enterprise app asked Microsoft for a longer .NET support window. The Java world answered that question a decade ago.
Hayden Barnes
WSL
Azure Linux "Desktop": A Build 2026 mashup of wslc, WinUI Reactor, and Azure Linux 4.0
A nifty Windows app that boots a full Linux desktop in a window, wiring together the wslc container API, WinUI Reactor, Azure Linux 4.0, .NET 10, with a pinch of nostalgia.
WSL
Build a Custom WSL 2 Kernel in 2026
Building a custom WSL 2 kernel in 2026 with the WSL system distro (Azure Linux) as a clean, root, throwaway build environment. KVM now ships enabled, so this covers the reasons that still matter, plus the new modules VHDX deployment step.
.NET
I'm running for the .NET Foundation Board
I am on the ballot for the 2026 .NET Foundation Board election. Why I am running, what the Foundation is recruiting for this cycle, and what I would bring: partnerships across the Microsoft and open source line, nonprofit governance, and a long record in the .NET and WSL communities.
Linux
Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft’s first general-purpose Linux
Microsoft’s in-house Linux, the distribution that grew out of CBL-Mariner, just hit public preview as a general-purpose cloud OS you can run on any Azure VM and coming soon to WSL.
WSL
wslc: A native Linux container runtime for Windows
wslc brings native OCI-compatible Linux containers to WSL: a Docker-compatible CLI, GPU passthrough via CDI, a full C/WinRT/C# SDK, and a plugin API that lets Windows applications mount folders, spawn processes, and react to container lifecycle events as native Windows handles.
WSL
WSL 2 is getting faster Windows file system access
From DrvFs in WSL 1 to Plan 9 to virtiofs, cross-OS file access in WSL 2 has improved with each generation. A new change gives each virtio device its own dedicated DMA pool, removing the last major contention point on the virtiofs path.
Linux
Getting Started Creating a Linux Desktop App in Visual Studio using Avalonia and WSL
Build cross-platform GUI apps for WIndows and Linux using C# and .NET using Avalonia in Visual Studio.
Linux
Windows Dev Drive Benchmarks
Putting Windows Dev Drive through it's paces on the Windows Dev Kit 2023.
Open Source
The GitHub Copilot Lawsuit Threatens Open Source and Human Progress
The vague complaints of the Copilot plaintiffs are nothing compared to the damage to free software and human progress if they won.
Linux
Microsoft's CBL-Delridge is 404, long live CBL-Mariner
Microsoft is increasingly standardizing on its in-house CBL-Mariner Linux distribution. Is this Microsoft Linux?
Windows Subsystem for Linux
Building custom WSL distro images with Podman
Use Podman on Windows to build custom WSL distro images.