> Could not find files saved in the WSL terminal in explorer (I understand that is a limitation). The was so much unknown going on in the "integration" that I wished I just used a VM and took the perf hit instead of digging to figure out where Windows was mounting the FS and figuring out permissions.
You can explore the files stored inside wsl partition by going to \\wsl$ using file manager.
You can now also mount an external drive formatted as ext4 directly.
In very recent versions of Windows 10 WSL will even add directly to File Explorer a shortcut in the usual Locations pane (left-hand panel with quick folders/PC/whatnot) to \\wsl$ with a Tux icon. It's amusing seeing Tux every time you open File Explorer, and possibly even more amusing that Microsoft is installing that shortcut themselves.
You can explore the files stored inside wsl partition by going to \\wsl$ using file manager.
You can now also mount an external drive formatted as ext4 directly.