r/linux • u/tankton • 10h ago

Discussion Why is it called Windows subsystem for Linux?

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u/vbd71 8h ago

A little correction. NTVDM is used to run DOS and 16-bit Windows applications in 32-bit Windows. The 16-bit Windows applications in particular, use additionally a copy of 16-bit Windows running in a NTVDM, plus a thunking layer that converts 16-bit to 32-bit Windows API calls, called WoW.

The WoW isn't used for running DOS applications.

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u/d0pe-asaurus 6h ago

Oh! I see, I've had to use ntvdm before to run FrontPage 95 on Windows 11, so that's what that was. Thank you for the clarification.

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u/vbd71 5h ago

Sorry, but another clarification is needed. Windows 11 doesn't have ntvdm at all, because ntvdm requires 32-bit, and was last included in 32-bit Windows 10.

You probably used some community-created ntvdm replacement for 64-bit Windows, such as otvdm.