What are use cases for using Windows Containers instead of Linux containers on Windows?

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Here I read that Windows Containers have limitation compared to linux containers regarding docker:

  • Docker supports only certain versions of Windows (namely, Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10). In contrast, Docker can run on any type of modern Linux-based operating system.
  • Even on Windows versions that are supported by Docker, Windows has stricter requirements regarding image compatibility.
  • Some Docker networking features for containers are not yet supported on Windows.
  • Most of the container orchestration systems that are used for Docker on Linux are not supported on Windows. The exception is Docker Swarm, which is supported. (If you want to use a different orchestrator on Windows, however, fret not; Windows support for orchestrators such as Kubernetes and Apache Mesos is under development.)

So the question is why would someone run docker on Windows containers if it's possible to run it on Linux containers through virtualization?

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docker
Because the software they want to run needs windows? – Sergio Tulentsev

1 Answers

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One of the first major design choices for every application is choosing the operating system, i.e. Linux or Windows. There is a question on SO describing what are advantages of choosing Windows over Linux.

Containerization is a method of deployment of your application. Possibility of using containers in Linux is yet another advantage of Linux operating system. If you choose Windows as a platform for your application and want to use containers then Windows containers are your choice.

Please find very interesting article of how Windows containers work and what are the benefits of using containers for your Windows application: https://xebia.com/blog/windows-containers-care/