Microsoft has released updated Windows 11 virtual machines (Windows 11 development environment) you can download and use for free for a limited time. The latest release allows using Windows 11 and all of its features, plus various developer tools, without purchasing an activation key. Usually, the virtual machines can operate for about two or three months before starting to nag the user with activation prompts.
Microsoft’s official Windows 11 VMs are available pre-built for three types of virtualization software: VMWare, second-generation Hyper-V, VirtualBox, and Parallels. They include Windows 11 Enterprise (evaluation), Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition with UWP, .NET Desktop, Azure, Windows App SDK for C# workloads, Windows Subsystem for Linux with Ubuntu, Windows Terminal, and Developer mode. Pre-built virtual machines from Microsoft are a quick and easy way to start building Windows applications using the necessary developer tools without spending too much time setting up a virtual machine and downloading SDKs manually.
Another thing worth mentioning is that Windows 11 development environment now comes with Windows 11 version 22H2 or the 2022 Update. Developers and curious customers can check out what is new in Microsoft’s latest OS without manually installing feature updates or upgrading their computers to Windows 11 22H2.
Windows 11 virtual machines from Microsoft require 20GB of free space on your disk, and you can use them until April 12, 2023. However, Microsoft will likely release newer versions before the current ones reach their expiration date (the last time Microsoft released new virtual machines was on December 9, 2022).
