Microsoft released free Windows 11 virtual machines with Moment 3 update
June 26, 2023
Windows 11 Development Environment is a set of virtual machines that can be used without activation and free for 90 days. The main goal of the project is to give developers all the tools they need to build Windows applications, including Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition with included USP workloads, .NET Desktop, Azure, and the Windows App SDK for C# workloads.
The Windows subsystem for Linux 2 in the machines is enabled with Ubuntu installed and docked to the taskbar. They also have a Windows terminal installed and Windows developer mode enabled.
The WDE 2306 version is based on the Windows 11 Enterprise SKU with build number 22621.1848, the latest version currently available in the stable channel. Version 22621.1848 is also known as the Moment 3 update.
It's worth noting that Microsoft is gradually rolling out Moment 3 updates, so the new features are disabled by default on virtual machines, but this restriction can be bypassed by using the appropriate switch in the Windows Update Center settings. Windows 11 development environment version 2306 is valid until September 13, 2023.
Developers and enthusiasts can download Windows 11 Development Environment virtual machines for free from the official Microsoft Developer website. Available configurations include VMWare (workstation and player), Hyper-V second generation, VirtualBox and Parallels (no ARM version of the project). You will need at least 70 GB of free disk space and at least 8 GB of RAM to download.
