title: Windows
category: page
slug: microsoft-windows
sortorder: 0516
toc: False
sidebartitle: Windows
meta: Windows is an operating system built by Microsoft that is often used for developing Python applications.


[Windows](https://www.microsoft.com/windows) is a closed-source, proprietary 
[operating system](/operating-systems.html) created by Microsoft that 
is often used to [develop Python applications](/learning-programming.html).

<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/windows" style="border: none"><img src="/img/logos/windows.png" width="100%" alt="Microsoft Windows 10 logo." class="shot" style="margin: 8px 0 8px 0"></a>

<div class="well see-also">Windows is an implementation of the <a href="/operating-systems.html">operating systems</a> concept. Learn more in the <a href="/deployment.html">deployment</a> chapter or view the <a href="/table-of-contents.html">table of contents</a> for all topics.</div>


### Useful resources for Python on Windows
* [Windows for Linux nerds](https://blog.jessfraz.com/post/windows-for-linux-nerds/)
  gives context for how Windows works compared to Linux and digs into the
  Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) which allows the operating system to
  handle Linux calls.

* [How to set up the perfect modern dev environment on Windows](https://char.gd/blog/2017/how-to-set-up-the-perfect-modern-dev-environment-on-windows)
  provides a good guide that includes configuring Vagrant, setting up the 
  Windows toolchain and updating your permissions to handle development.

* [Setting Up Python for Machine Learning on Windows](https://realpython.com/python-windows-machine-learning-setup/)
  presents detailed steps for installing Anaconda and using it to
  install dependencies on your local machine.

* [PyInstaller](https://www.pyinstaller.org/) packages a Python application with
  its associated dependencies into a Windows executable file so it can be
  more easily distributed and run on other computers.

* [Cmder](http://cmder.net/) is a beautiful console emulator designed for 
  Windows that can be useful for when you need to get work done on the 
  commandline.

* [Setting up Python on Windows 10](https://anthonydebarros.com/2018/06/21/setting-up-python-in-windows-10/)
  is a short guide to making sure you have Python 3 installed correctly on
  your Windows computer.

* [Using both Python 2 and 3 in Windows](https://spapas.github.io/2017/12/20/python-2-3-windows/)
  explains how to configure Windows so you can use both Python 2 and 3 if
  you still need to dig into older projects that have not yet been updated.

* [Epic Development Environment using Windows Subsystem for Linux](https://dev.to/johnbwoodruff/epic-development-environment-using-windows-subsystem-forlinux-5f0n)
  shows how to get your Windows development environment configured. It is
  geared towards JavaScript/Node developers but most of the steps will also 
  be useful to Python developers.

* [Windows dev box setup scripts](https://github.com/Microsoft/windows-dev-box-setup-scripts)
  are [Powershell](/powershell.html) programs for setting up a Windows
  machine for development.
