Microsoft will temporarily remove some of its free Windows 11 virtual machines

Microsoft has updated its page where users can download official Windows 11 evaluation virtual machines, also known as Windows Development Environment. According to the update, some of the currently available virtual machines will be taken down due to "ongoing technical issues." The virtual machines in question are versions made for Parallels (macOS) and VMware (multi-platform). Here is the message Microsoft posted:

Due to ongoing technical issues, downloads for VMWare and Parallels will be temporarily unavailable starting July 15, 2024.

Windows Development Environment virtual machines are available in four variants: VMware, Hyper-V Gen 2, Parallels Desktop, and VirtualBox. Microsoft updates its official virtual machines roughly every month after releasing Patch Tuesday updates. However, for some reason, Microsoft skipped the June release, leaving its latest Windows Development Environment virtual machines stuck on version 2404.

Although you can still download the latest release for VMware and Parallels, version 2404 has its timebomb set to July 15, 2024. That means that after the specified date, Windows 11 will start nagging you with activation prompts. And since you cannot activate Windows Development Environment even with a genuine key, users will have to wait for Microsoft to release a fixed version for VMware or Parallels or switch to another virtualization software for some time.

As a reminder, Microsoft recently confirmed a problem with Windows 11 running on ARM-powered Macs. Affected customers running Windows 11 in Parallels or another software get the "2024-05 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems (KB5037853) Installation Error - 0x800f0845" message.

You can download official Windows 11 virtual machines from Microsoft on the official website. Each virtual machine includes a copy of Windows 11 Enterprise and the full set of development tools for making Windows apps, such as Visual Studio, Windows Subsystem for Linux, Terminal, developer mode, and more.

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