For your scenario, consider Podman with Colima or WSL 2. They balance ease of use, resource efficiency, and Linux tool integration. Podman with Colima offers a Docker-like experience, while WSL 2 seamlessly integrates with the Windows environment. Choose based on your needs and preferences, trying both to find the best fit for your open-source game development project.

* Docker engine and not Docker Desktop in a VM. WSL2 works well after some configuration: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/6655#issuecomment-11...

* Rancher Desktop.

* Podman.

> I need a solution to run Linux in a virtual environment on Windows

WSL2 is exactly this, you can also use VMWare or VirtualBox. In other words, your base linux environment is not containerized, it is virtualized. This is a requirement for any non-linux OS (currently, MS is looking into native container support afaik), because containers are built on kernel features

https://podman-desktop.io/ is one alternative, which I will look into testing.

- What's your criteria for "best"?

- It might help to share what it is about Docker you're not in favor of?

- Can't Win 10 Pro provide a Linux env?

I don't use it and don't know if the answer may be incorrect, but I assume NixOS may help.