Microsoft releases new free Windows 11 virtual machines with the latest updates

Microsoft has finally released a new version of its official Windows 11 virtual machines, which are also known as "Windows Development Environment" or WDE. These virtual machines, usually available prebuilt for four different virtualization software, offer everyone free evaluation access to the latest Windows 11 updates and its developer tools. The latter include the following:

• Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition with UWP, .NET Desktop, Azure, and Windows App SDK for C# workloads enabled
• Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 enabled with Ubuntu installed
• Windows Terminal installed
• Developer mode enabled

Windows Development Environment 2407 is now the latest version of Microsoft's Windows 11 virtual machines. It is based on Windows 11 build 22621.3880, which is this month's Patch Tuesday update.

Note that this time, unlike all the previous updates, Windows Development Environment 2407 is only available in two formats: Hyper-V and VirtualBox. Editions for VMware Workstation and Parallels Desktop (this one is for macOS) are not available due to unknown technical issues that were confirmed earlier this month.

What has not changed is the evaluation period: you still have 90 days to use these virtual machines without paying for a license key. The expiration date for Windows Development Environment version 2407 is set to October 9, 2024.

Note that WDE may ask you to activate the operating system right after the first boot. In such a case, give the virtual machine some time to get to senses and remove the activation prompt. However, after October 9, you will see your typical symptoms of inactivated OS with a blacked-out desktop, activation notifications, and constant shutdowns every hour.

If you want to download one of Microsoft's official Windows 11 virtual machines, head to this website. Before you proceed, make sure you have at least 70GB of free disk space and a minimum of 8GB of RAM.

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