220-1102 Operating Systems Practice Question
A user needs to run a Linux command-line tool on a Windows 10 Pro workstation. Which built-in Windows feature should the technician enable to allow the user to run Linux tools natively?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse Hyper-V (a full virtualization solution) with WSL, assuming any Linux support requires a complete VM, but WSL provides native Linux binary execution without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a built-in Windows 10 feature that allows users to run native Linux command-line tools and binaries directly on Windows without a virtual machine. It achieves this by translating Linux system calls into Windows kernel calls via a lightweight compatibility layer, enabling seamless integration of tools like bash, grep, and sed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Hyper-V
Why it's wrong here
Hyper-V is a type-1 hypervisor that provisions full virtual machines, each requiring a complete guest OS, allocated RAM, vCPUs, and disk space. Running one Linux command-line tool this way would mean booting an entire Linux distribution, which adds significant overhead and startup latency. It also requires the Hyper-V feature to be enabled, which may conflict with other virtualization software, making it far heavier and more complex than the purpose-built WSL.
- ✓
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
Why this is correct
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is the correct feature because it provides a lightweight, kernel-backed environment designed specifically to run Linux ELF binaries directly on Windows. WSL2 uses a real Linux kernel in a highly optimized utility VM, while WSL1 uses a translation layer, but both allow native execution of command-line tools without a full desktop environment. This makes it the simplest and most efficient way to run a single Linux utility on a Windows 10 Pro workstation, with seamless integration into the Windows file system and console.
- ✗
Windows Sandbox
Why it's wrong here
Windows Sandbox is an isolated, disposable desktop environment used for running untrusted Windows applications safely. It is built on Hyper-V virtualization and contains only a full Windows 10 system, with no Linux compatibility layer or kernel support. Therefore, you cannot execute a Linux binary inside Windows Sandbox; it would only let you run the same Windows tools in a separate window, so it is not a solution for running a Linux command-line tool.
- ✗
Remote Desktop Services
Why it's wrong here
Remote Desktop Services (RDS) enables users to connect to a remote Windows desktop or individual RemoteApp programs over a network. It does not interpret or execute Linux binaries; it merely streams the graphical UI of a Windows session. To run Linux commands via RDS, you would first need a separate Linux server, which defeats the purpose of using the local Windows workstation as the execution environment, so it is not applicable here.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
System Restore Points
Key term
Virtual machine
A virtual machine (VM) is a software-based emulation of a physical computer that runs an operating system and applications just like a real machine, but is isolated and managed by a hypervisor on a host system.
Key term
Kernel
The kernel is the core program of an operating system that manages hardware resources and provides essential services for all other software to run.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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