According to MakeUseOf, a developer who used Linux for years as their primary development environment has switched to Windows 11 and found the experience surprisingly capable. The author maintained a dual-boot setup with Linux Mint and Windows to handle both development work and gaming/creative applications, but found the constant OS switching frustrating and productivity-killing. Key improvements that enabled the switch included Windows Terminal with tabs, split panes, and WSL2 integration, Microsoft PowerToys for workflow enhancement, and winget package manager for command-line application installation. Despite acknowledging Windows’ higher resource requirements and occasional update issues, the author concluded that for mixed-stack development requiring Windows-specific tools, the platform has become remarkably capable.
Table of Contents
The WSL Game-Changer
What makes this developer’s experience fundamentally different from earlier Windows development attempts is Linux integration through WSL2. Unlike previous virtualization solutions that created performance overhead and compatibility issues, WSL2 provides near-native Linux kernel performance while maintaining seamless Windows integration. This represents Microsoft’s strategic recognition that developers need access to Linux tooling without sacrificing Windows application compatibility. The ability to run Docker containers, use familiar command-line utilities, and access the vast ecosystem of Linux development tools while remaining in Windows addresses what was historically the biggest barrier to Windows adoption among developers.
Ecosystem Maturation Beyond WSL
Beyond WSL, Windows has quietly built a comprehensive development ecosystem that many developers haven’t noticed. The Windows Terminal represents Microsoft’s acknowledgment that command-line productivity matters, while winget provides the package management experience that Linux users have taken for granted for decades. What’s particularly interesting is how Microsoft has embraced open-source development practices while maintaining its commercial operating system business model. The company’s acquisition of GitHub and integration of development tools across its ecosystem suggests a long-term strategy to own the entire development lifecycle, from code creation to deployment.
The Productivity Paradox
There’s an interesting productivity calculation happening here that extends beyond raw development speed. While Linux distributions might offer faster compilation times or more efficient resource usage, the cognitive overhead of context switching between operating systems can outweigh those benefits. For developers working across multiple domains—whether that means switching between game development and web applications or balancing creative work with coding—the unified environment provides tangible workflow benefits. This reflects a broader trend toward consolidation in development tooling, where the convenience of integrated environments often outweighs the theoretical advantages of specialized tools.
Market Implications and Future Outlook
This shift has significant implications for the development tools market. If Windows becomes a more viable development platform, we could see increased competition in IDE development and tooling specifically targeting the Windows environment. Microsoft’s strategy appears to be creating a virtuous cycle where better development tools attract more developers to Windows, which in turn creates demand for even better tools. However, this trend also raises questions about platform lock-in and whether Microsoft’s embrace of open-source tooling will remain genuine if Windows becomes the dominant development platform again.
The Challenges That Remain
Despite the progress, Windows still faces significant hurdles in winning over the developer community completely. The resource overhead compared to lean Linux distributions remains substantial, and Windows Update’s unpredictable nature continues to cause legitimate concerns for development workflows. For developers working exclusively in server-side or embedded systems where production environments run Linux, the case for staying with Linux remains strong. The real test will be whether Microsoft can maintain its current trajectory of improvement while addressing these fundamental concerns that have driven developers away from Windows for decades.
