If you’re a developer who loves the clean, powerful feel of Linux but works on a Windows machine, Linuxify might just be your new best friend. This fresh open-source project turns your everyday Windows setup into a full-fledged Unix-like environment—without needing WSL, virtual machines, or any extra hassle. Built entirely from scratch in C++ by Patrick Cortez, Linuxify delivers a native shell that feels right at home for anyone used to bash, zsh, or other Linux terminals.
Why Linuxify Exists?
Windows has come a long way with PowerShell and the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), but many users still miss the familiar GNU tools, simple command syntax, and scripting ease that Linux offers. Linuxify fills that gap by creating a lightweight, standalone shell that runs natively on Windows. It doesn’t replace your existing setup—it lives alongside it, giving you the best of both worlds.
The project uses a clever continuation-passing style (CPS) state-machine engine. In plain terms, this smart design avoids the usual risks of deep call stacks, so even long-running scripts or heavy sessions won’t crash. That level of care shows the thoughtfulness behind every feature.
Features that Feel Like Home
Linuxify packs more than 60 built-in Linux commands right out of the box. You get the usual suspects—ls, cd, grep, find, ps, netstat, and many more—plus extras like real-time syntax highlighting as you type. Commands, flags, strings, and brackets all light up in beautiful colors, making mistakes easy to spot before you hit Enter.
Typing a path automatically cds into it. Ghost-text suggestions appear based on your most-used commands and files. Tab completion works for both commands and filesystem paths. Git awareness is built in: the prompt changes color and shows branch status when you’re inside a repo.
The integrated Bash interpreter lets you run .sh scripts directly, complete with shebang support (#!). You can even execute scripts with ./script.sh just like on Linux. Piping, redirection, background jobs, arithmetic evaluation, and globbing all work exactly as you expect.
For a more visual experience, fire up Windux—the tabbed GUI terminal with ConPTY support, smooth scrolling, ANSI colors, and mouse text selection. It feels modern and responsive.
Easy Installation and First Steps
Getting started takes just a few minutes. Download the latest installer from the GitHub releases page (v1.2 as of February 2026). Run it, and it places everything in C:\Program Files\Linuxify, adds the tools to your PATH, and creates convenient Start Menu shortcuts.
Once installed, open a regular Command Prompt or PowerShell and type linuxify or simply lish to launch the interactive shell. For the GUI version, run windux. That’s it—no configuration files to hunt down, no dependencies to install manually.
Customizing Your Linux Experience
Linuxify respects your preferences. Create a file at ~/.linuxifyrc (it lives in your user folder) and add aliases, environment variables, custom prompts with ANSI colors, and more. Want ll to always show details? Just write alias ll=”ls -la”. Your changes load every time the shell starts.
A built-in text editor called Lino offers syntax highlighting for C++, Python, JavaScript, and more. You can even extend it with your own plugin files.
Package Management and Scheduling
Need extra tools? The lin package manager wraps Microsoft’s winget but uses familiar Linux-style commands: lin get git, lin remove node, lin update. Over 180 aliases make it feel natural.
Scheduling tasks is just as straightforward. Edit your crontab with crond -e, add entries like @daily backup.sh, then start the daemon with crond start. It even integrates with Windows startup so your scheduled jobs survive reboots.
Who Benefits Most?
Freelance developers, students learning bash scripting, DevOps engineers who jump between OSes, and anyone tired of translating Linux commands to PowerShell will love Linuxify. It lowers the friction when working on cross-platform projects or following Linux-based tutorials.
Because everything runs natively in C++, performance is snappy. No virtualization overhead means faster script execution and lower resource use compared to WSL on lighter machines.
Final Thoughts
Linuxify isn’t trying to replace WSL or PowerShell—it’s offering a joyful alternative for those moments when you just want to type ls -la and feel at home. In a world where developers switch between macOS, Linux servers, and Windows desktops daily, having one consistent command-line experience is pure gold.
If you’ve ever wished Windows felt a little more like Linux, give Linuxify a try. It’s free, open-source, lightweight, and built with genuine care. It comes in just a ~22 MB basic installer package.
You can download Linuxify from https://github.com/patrickcortez/Linuxify.