Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Microsoft opened its arms to Linux during the Windows 10 era, inventing an entire virtualized subsystem to allow users and developers to access a real-deal Linux command line without leaving the Windows environment. Now, it looks like Microsoft may embrace yet another Linux feature: the sudo command.
Short for "superuser do" or "substitute user do" and immortalized in nerd-leaning pop culture by an early xkcd comic, sudo is most commonly used at the command line when the user needs administrator access to the system—usually to install or update software, or to make changes to system files. Users who aren't in the sudo user group on a given system can't run the command, protecting the rest of the files on the system from being accessed or changed.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, user @thebookisclosed found settings for a Sudo command in a preview version of Windows 11 that was posted to the experimental Canary channel in late January. WindowsLatest experimented with the setting in a build of Windows Server 2025, which currently requires Developer Mode to be enabled in the Settings app. There's a toggle to turn the sudo command on and off and a separate drop-down to tweak how the command behaves when you use it, though as of this writing the command itself doesn't actually work yet.
The sudo command is also part of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), but that version of the sudo command only covers Linux software. This one seems likely to run native Windows commands, though obviously we won't know exactly how it works before it's enabled and fully functional. Currently, users who want a sudo-like command in Windows need to rely on third-party software like gsudo to accomplish the task.
The benefit of the sudo command for Windows users—whether they're using Windows Server or otherwise—would be the ability to elevate the privilege level without having to open an entirely separate command prompt or Windows Terminal window. According to the options available in the preview build, commands run with sudo could be opened up in a new window automatically, or they could happen inline, but you'd never need to do the "right-click, run-as-administrator" dance again if you didn't want to.
Related Stories
For most people, Windows 10 will stop receiving critical security updates on October 14, 2025, roughly a decade after its initial release. For people using computers that can't upgrade to Windows 11 or organizations with dozens or hundreds of PCs to manage, Microsoft is making another three years of Extended Security Updates (ESUs) available, but only if you can pay for them. And the company is ready to start talking about pricing.
In a blog post published earlier this week, Microsoft's Jason Leznek writes that the first year of ESUs will cost $61 per PC for businesses that want to keep their systems updated.
And as with the Windows 7 ESUs a few years ago, Microsoft says that the price will double each year—so the second year of ESUs will cost $122 per PC, and the third year will cost a whopping $244 per device.
[...] Though Windows 11 launched in October of 2021, its adoption has mostly stalled out this year, and Windows 10 remains the most widely used version of Windows by a substantial margin. Statcounter data says that Windows 10 runs on 69 percent of all Windows PCs worldwide and 67 percent of PCs in the US, compared to about 27 and 29 percent for Windows 11 (respectively). The latest Steam Hardware Survey shows Windows 10 running on 54 percent of surveyed gaming PCs, compared to about 42 percent for Windows 11.
Related stories on SoylentNews:
(Score: 5, Funny) by Tork on Wednesday February 07 2024, @11:03PM (3 children)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 07 2024, @11:45PM (2 children)
Haven't you learned by now that you can't give those morons ideas like this?
(Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday February 07 2024, @11:50PM (1 child)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Thursday February 08 2024, @07:12AM
Like that has ever stopped MS from copying a bad idea.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday February 08 2024, @12:08AM (2 children)
Microsoft "invented" Posix on Windows now...
Sheesh. Rewrite history much?
(Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday February 08 2024, @01:08AM
Apple declared BSD layer on MacOS obsolete nine years ago. So much for history...
Rust programming language offends both my Intelligence and my Spirit.
(Score: 2) by Ox0000 on Thursday February 08 2024, @02:24PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenix [wikipedia.org]
I know Xenix was really AT&T's, but ms did slap their logo and name on it.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Gaaark on Thursday February 08 2024, @04:19AM (1 child)
, wrapped it's hands around it and started squeeeeeezing, saying, "I've ALWAYS loved you: why do you make me hurt you like this?"
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 08 2024, @09:08AM
I dunno, Windows 11 makes me wonder whether it's the bastardized combined efforts of reject MacOS and Desktop Linux "designers", working in[1] Microsoft...
It's like the old bunch (like this: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061106-01/?p=29123 [microsoft.com] ) have long left or have lost power and say. The new bunch in power are a bunch of noobs who don't seem to have any experience in almost anything related to Windows.
See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30019307 [ycombinator.com]
[1] not "for".