Does the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Business run Linux? | #linux | #linuxsecurity | #education | #technology | #infosec

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The vast majority of laptops on the market runs some version of Windows, with Macs being a popular alternative if you’re shopping in higher price tiers. What you don’t see a lot of, however, are Linux-based laptops. So if you’re considering the new Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Business, you might be interested in knowing whether it can run Linux or not. The good news is it technically can, but the bad news is that you can’t buy it that way.

Out of the box, the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Business comes with Windows 11 Pro, as you’d probably expect. Windows 11 Pro includes a lot of manageability and security features designed for businesses, and Windows is just more popular, as we’ve mentioned. However, if you need to access certain Linux apps or features, you have options.

Windows Subsystem for Linux

The first big thing to know is that Windows 11 (and Windows 10 before it) come with something called the Windows Subsystem for Linux. You can effectively install a Linux distribution on Windows 11, and use Linux inside of Windows. To do this, you’ll need to enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux optional feature – you can do this by typing Turn Windows features on or off on the Start menu. This will show you a list of optional features, including the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Alternatively, you can install the Windows Subsystem for Linux Preview from the Microsoft Store.

After a reboot, you’ll be able to look for Linux distributions on the Microsoft Store, including Ubuntu, Kali Linux, SUSE, and others. You can then run the Linux terminal at any time, and you can even install Linux GUI apps that run inside Windows, too. There’s not as much need to install Linux instead of Windows anymore.

Installing Linux on the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Business

If you really want to try out a specific version of Linux and get the full experience, you might consider installing it in a virtual machine. Windows 11 Pro comes with built-in support for Hyper-V, which lets you run other operating systems via virtualization. These won’t run at full performance, but they should still be usable for most tasks. You can grab an ISO file for your favorite Linux distribution from their official website – Ubuntu is a popular option. You can then use Hyper-V to create a VM based off of that ISO file. We’ve explained how to create a Windows 11 VM in the past, but the process is generally similar for other operating systems.

Screenshots of Windows and Ubuntu side by side

Another option you can try is to dual-boot Linux alongside Windows 11. This allows you to run both operating systems at full native performance, but you’ll have to reboot the PC to switch between them. However, it’s a fairly easy and safe way to do it if you want to see what Linux is like. We have a guide on how to dual-boot Linux and Windows 11, which we recommend you check out if you want to go that route. If you want to replace Windows entirely, or remove Linux, you can always back up your data and delete the partition you don’t want to use anymore.

The risk with this is that you may not be able to get support from Samsung if you decide to go that route. After all, Linux isn’t officially supported.


And that’s about all you need to know about getting Linux on the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Business. Yes, it’s somewhat unfortunate that you can’t get it out of the box, but you can run Linux apps or install Linux yourself if you really want to. That’s just the state of the market since Windows is so popular and so many apps are designed for it.

If you want to buy the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Business, you may have to wait a little longer. Samsung has said it’ll be available on April 11th, though as of writing this article, it doesn’t seem to be available yet. We’ll be sure to have a link below as soon as it’s available. In the meantime, you might want to check out the best business laptops you can buy today. Some of them do give you the option to get Linux. If you don’t want a business laptop necessarily, maybe stop by our list of the best Samsung laptops, or the best laptops overall to see if you find something you like.


The Linux Tux logo by Larry Ewing and Simon Budig is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

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