They are provided in WSL, but the Windows Subsystem for Linux is a separate install atop Windows, and the installation process is currently very complex and lengthy.

The installation process is not at all complex. You just have to turn on developer mode and check the box that says you want to enable WSL.

Windows key, type "developer mode", hit enter, click "developer mode" (or 3x tabs, space, enter). PowerShell, send "lxrun /install /y"

Done. Pro-tip. Pin PowerShell to your taskbar and drag all the way left. Now you can open it with win+1.

Edit: now with no mouse required!

After going to the Windows store and upgrading to Windows Pro. That's another advantage of OS X- no need to target various OS revisions- the baseline OS IS the OS.

I just sort of assume if you're a developer that you buy the developer version of your software :)

Edit: for reference, home also doesn't come with bitlocker (!?), Domain join, Group Policy, client hyper-v, and others. Don't buy home to do work.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsforbusiness/compare

You've missed a step. After enabling Developer Mode, you need to enable support for WSL in Programs and Features, then restart Windows.

When I tested it on my laptop out of the box that was not the case. Maybe Dell does that on the xps line...?

Am i going mad? Windows has a command line ftp tool, I used it this morning. Is it just a Windows 10 thing? because it was also on my netbook running 8.1 out of the box.

Excellent point. WSL is certainly a step in the right direction.