If you search for 'Linux' in the store, you'll find an entry 'Run Linux on Windows' which will provide you with the available distributions. Next, you'll need to install your preferred distribution of Linux from the Microsoft Store. Go to Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows Features on or off (or just type 'Windows Features' into the search box), and select the 'Windows Subsystem for Linux' option. This page provides the details on installing Linux on Windows, but here are the basic steps you need and how to get the latest version of R up and running within it.įirst, Enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux option. And that's because this is a Linux system: the Windows Subsystem for Linux is a complete Linux distribution running within Windows. Once you have things set up, you can launch a bash shell and run R at the terminal like you would in any Linux system. If you need access to the gcc toolchain for building R packages, or simply prefer the bash environment, it's easy to get things up and running. R has been available for Windows since the very beginning, but if you have a Windows machine and want to use R within a Linux ecosystem, that's easy to do with the new Fall Creator's Update (version 1709).

Installing r in linux