Notes for Windows users

Windows is not a UNIX or UNIX-like operating system, so there are extra steps to interfacing a Windows computer with our servers.

You have a few options for software to enable this kind of connection.

• The strongly preferred option is to install Ubuntu subsystem for Windows on Windows 10. Since this is Windows 10-only, we encourage students who want to use Windows to run Windows 10 rather than an earlier version. Here are the instructions:

1. Click Start and search for Developer mode. Click the first option and enable developer mode.
2. NOTE: It will ask you to restart your computer during this step, so be sure to save your work first. Run the Windows PowerShell in admin mode (right-click Start and select the option). Then copy the following and paste it in and hit Enter:
   
   Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux
   
   Type 'Y' and press Enter when it asks you to restart.
3. Go to the Windows Store and install Ubuntu (just plain Ubuntu).

• MobaXterm and Putty are other options.

Some quirks of interfacing Windows with Linux:

• It's common for a Linux operating system to appear to mount the main Windows filesystem under /drives, usually /drives/c/.
• Within /drives/c, directories and filenames observe such Windows conventions as capitalizing (e.g.) "Users" and "Documents".
• If you're in a Linux environment, the Windows "\" becomes a Linux "/".