Download a free Windows 11 virtual machine


Get a Windows 11 development environment​

Start building Windows applications quickly by using a virtual machine with the latest versions of Windows, the developer tools, SDKs, and samples ready to go.

Download a virtual machine​

We currently package our virtual machines for four different virtualization software options: VMWare, Hyper-V, VirtualBox, and Parallels.

Download links: VMWare, Hyper-V, VirtualBox, Parallels
File size: 20 GB
Expiration date: September 11, 2022

The evaluation virtual machine includes:​

  • Window 11 Enterprise (Evaluation)
  • Visual Studio 2022 with the UWP, .NET Desktop, Azure, and Windows App SDK for C# workloads enabled
  • Windows Subsystem for Linux enabled with Ubuntu installed
  • Developer mode enabled
  • Windows Terminal installed

Source:
developer.microsoft.com

Windows developer tools

Windows includes built-in tools designed for developers — a package manager, a Linux subsystem, optimized storage, and more.
developer.microsoft.com
 
Click to expand...
At first, I thought 20GB was a bit much, but I tried and it's only a 5-minute download, so this could be quite handy for testing stuff that won't work in the sandbox.

Edit - I've just noticed this is 40GB when unzipped :eek: I think I may give this a miss.
 
Last edited:

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two Other systems

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 WorkstationRyzen 9 5950XCorsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB)...ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    OS
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Sound BlasterX Katana
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
    Drive
    PSU
    ASUS ROG THOR 850W 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    ASUS ROG Strix Helios Midi-Tower ARGB Gaming Case
    Cooling
    ASUS ROG Strix LC Performance RGB AIO CPU Liquid Cooler - 360mm
    Keyboard
    Logi Ergo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Vertical
    Internet Speed
    1000/200 Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Pro
    Other Info
    HP M281 Printer
    Logitech Brio Stream webcam
    Logitech G Yeti orb mic

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProSnapdragon X2 Plus64GB
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop
    CPU
    Snapdragon X2 Plus
    Memory
    64GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15"
  • Nothing to see here.
z3r010 said:
At first, I thought 20GB was a bit much, but I tried and it's only a 5-minute download, so this could be quite handy for testing stuff that won't work in the sandbox.
Click to expand...
Hmmm .. developing virtually?

Like developing on a Preview Windows with Preview Visual Studio ... no real world... just my thoughts though.. I'm sure others will find it helpful, but that being said - thanx Shawn, John always good to know.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows
OS
Windows
I have a virtual computer that i use for testing Malware, other tools for cleaning computers & also for testing viruses ! It is a bare bones with nothing much other than what i need for testing things, never use it for personal use !

Chuck
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows11 23H2 (OS Build 22631.2428)2.90 gigahertz Intel Core i7-1070016214 Megabytes Usable Installed Memor
OS
Windows11 23H2 (OS Build 22631.2428)
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
HP HP ENVY TE01
CPU
2.90 gigahertz Intel Core i7-10700
Motherboard
Board: HP 8767 A (SMVB)
Memory
16214 Megabytes Usable Installed Memor
Hard Drives
1511.52 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
1418.15 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
Keyboard
Logitech wireless
Mouse
M 185 wireless
Internet Speed
12 ms Jitter 8 ms Download 10.5 Mbps Upload 1.7
Browser
Edge & FF
Antivirus
Windows Defender
What's really interesting is that unless they have changed it since I downloaded and tried it, it is an MBR virtual disk booking in legacy BIOS mode, which is not supposed to be supported by Windows 11.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT32GBEVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
    OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 EducationIntel i7-8550U32GBNvidia Geforce MX150
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
What does this offer apart from temporary activation that you could not download and set up youself?

It seems to me if you have the experience to use this download for its development intent, you are savvy enough to download it all anyway?

Is there something special about using Enterprise apart from fact that certain group policy edits do not work in Pro?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ16 GB solderedIntegrated Intel Iris XE
OS
Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
ASUS Zenbook 14
CPU
I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
Motherboard
Yep, Laptop has one.
Memory
16 GB soldered
Graphics Card(s)
Integrated Intel Iris XE
Sound Card
Realtek built in
Monitor(s) Displays
laptop OLED screen
Screen Resolution
2880x1800 touchscreen
Hard Drives
1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
PSU
Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
Case
Yep, got one
Cooling
Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
Keyboard
Built in UK keybd
Mouse
Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
Internet Speed
900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

Macrium Reflect Home V8
Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
cereberus said:
What does this offer apart from temporary activation that you could not download and set up youself?

It seems to me if you have the experience to use this download for its development intent, you are savvy enough to download it all anyway?

Is there something special about using Enterprise apart from fact that certain group policy edits do not work in Pro?
Click to expand...
Not sure what it buys one either unless it´s ways of tempting people who procure I.T hardware on behalf of work organisations who are currently still on W10 or even on W7 to go for W11. However a better and cheaper option for those people might be to go for Ms´s AZURE or Cloud VDI options in a corporate setting.

I might download this though just to try it out in order to see see what´s in it. I´ll convert to "real" and boot from a real vhdx and see what happens. As for the unzipped 40GB size doesn´t W11 require 48GB of HDD anyway whether you use it or not, At least to install it. I´m currently only using 30GB on W11 with quite a few apps installed !! so maybe after W11 has installed one can reduce partition or vhdx size.

Skjámynd 2022-07-04 110121.png

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows XP,11 Linux Fedora Rawhide pre-releas...2 X Intel i7
OS
Windows XP,11 Linux Fedora Rawhide pre-release 45
Computer type
PC/Desktop
CPU
2 X Intel i7
Screen Resolution
4KUHD X 2
Brink said:
Expiration date: September 11, 2022
Click to expand...
That fixed expiry date is a shame. The last free VM I downloaded from MS was a Win8.1 Enterprise one to showcase IE11, but that had a 90-day licence, and MS specifically told you to set a checkpoint so that you could start again (and again) whenever it expired. Mine's still working.....
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two Other systems

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics
    OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD (from April 2026: 250GB EVO 850)
    Internet Speed
    150 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.

    UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to mechanical deterioration this PC has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.

    I've now clean installed 25H2 and used Garlin's scripts to update Secure Boot to CA 2023 and revoke the PCA 2011 certificates. It's new role is to test secure boot issues.

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel® Core™ i5-520M8GB(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround.

    In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround.
    Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.
    In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media.
    Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.

    Also running Insider Dev, and Canary builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
  • My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.

    My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine.
I guess I should start using Hyper-V since I have a physical instance of Insider. For another day. I am working iwth virt-manager (QEMU/KVM) not now or ever on Windows until maybe an imaginary day when Windows is open-source
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Fedora Silverblue Rawhide Debian 13 Ubuntu 25...AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core64GBNvidia
OS
Fedora Silverblue Rawhide Debian 13 Ubuntu 25.10,
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
HomeBrew
CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core
Motherboard
Gigabyte
Memory
64GB
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell
Hard Drives
3 ssd 2 spinners configured as raid 0
Keyboard
Eluktronics
Mouse
Eluktronics
Browser
Firefox and Chromium
Other Info
Gnome 46
martyfelker said:
I guess I should start using Hyper-V since I have a physical instance of Insider. For another day. I am working iwth virt-manager (QEMU/KVM) not now or ever on Windows until maybe an imaginary day when Windows is open-source
Click to expand...
Or install in a virtual hard disk and create a dual boot entry?

This way it activates if same edition e.g. pro
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ16 GB solderedIntegrated Intel Iris XE
OS
Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
ASUS Zenbook 14
CPU
I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
Motherboard
Yep, Laptop has one.
Memory
16 GB soldered
Graphics Card(s)
Integrated Intel Iris XE
Sound Card
Realtek built in
Monitor(s) Displays
laptop OLED screen
Screen Resolution
2880x1800 touchscreen
Hard Drives
1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
PSU
Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
Case
Yep, got one
Cooling
Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
Keyboard
Built in UK keybd
Mouse
Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
Internet Speed
900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

Macrium Reflect Home V8
Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Win11Pro Dev 25H2 26220.6972
OS
Win11Pro Dev 25H2 26220.6972
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Screen Resolution
4k
Browser
Microsoft Edge Beta
Antivirus
Eset Smart Security Premium
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