Editing Windows Services for UNIX (section)

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Short description|Discontinued software produced by Microsoft which provided Unix environment on Windows NT}}
{{distinguish|Windows Subsystem for Linux}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = Windows Services for UNIX
| logo                   = 
| screenshot             = 
| screenshot_size        = 
| caption                = 
| other_names            = SFU, SUA
| author                 = [[MKS Inc.]] (SFU 1.0 / 2.0), [[Interix|Softway Systems, Inc.]] (SFU 3.0 / 3.5)
| developer              = [[Microsoft]]
| released               = {{Start date and age|1999|2}}
| discontinued           = yes
| latest release version = 3.5
| latest release date    = {{Start date and age|2004|1}}
| operating system       = [[Microsoft Windows]]
| platform               = [[IA-32]] and [[x86-64]]
| replaces               = [[Microsoft POSIX subsystem]]
| replaced_by            = [[Windows Subsystem for Linux]]
| genre                  = [[Compatibility layer]]
| license                = 
| website                = {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826161806/https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb496506.aspx|title=Windows Services for Unix}}
}}
'''Windows Services for UNIX''' ('''SFU''') is a discontinued software package produced by [[Microsoft]] which provided a [[Unix]] environment on [[Windows NT]] and some of its immediate successor operating-systems.

SFU 1.0 and 2.0 used the [[MKS Toolkit]]; starting with SFU 3.0, SFU included the [[Interix]] subsystem,<ref name="LiuPeltier2008">{{cite book|author1=Dale Liu|author2=Justin Peltier|title=Next Generation SSH2 Implementation: Securing Data in Motion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHZsOY-sTcEC&pg=PA181|year=2008|publisher=Syngress|isbn=978-1-59749-283-6|pages=181–182|access-date=October 26, 2016|archive-date=September 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930215554/http://books.google.com/books?id=RHZsOY-sTcEC&pg=PA181|url-status=live}}</ref> which was acquired by Microsoft in 1999 from US-based Softway Systems as part of an asset acquisition.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/sept99/softwaypr.mspx |title=Microsoft Acquires Softway Systems to Strengthen Future Customer Interoperability Solutions |date=September 17, 1999 |publisher=[[Microsoft]] |access-date=December 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222101113/http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/sept99/softwaypr.mspx |archive-date=February 22, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> SFU 3.5 was the last release and was available as a free download from Microsoft. [[Windows Server 2003 R2]] included most of the former SFU components (on Disk 2), naming the Interix subsystem component Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications (SUA).<ref name="technet.microsoft.com">{{cite web |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-R2-and-2008/cc771470(v=ws.11) |title=Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications Overview |date=November 17, 2009 |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=August 20, 2022}}</ref> In [[Windows Server 2008]] and high-end versions of both [[Windows Vista]] and [[Windows 7]] (Enterprise and Ultimate), a minimal Interix SUA was included, but most of the other SFU utilities had to be downloaded separately from Microsoft's web site.<ref name="LiuPeltier2008"/>

The Interix subsystem included in SFU 3.0 and 3.5 and later released as SUA Windows components provided header files and libraries that made it easier to recompile or port Unix applications for use on Windows; they did not make Linux or other Unix binaries ([[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD]], [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]], [[Xenix]] etc) compatible with Windows binaries. Like the [[Microsoft POSIX subsystem]] that Interix replaced, it is best thought of as a distinct [[Unix-like]] platform.

It is replaced by [[Windows Subsystem for Linux]] in [[Windows 10]] and [[Windows Server 2019]].