Microsoft allows us to download virtual machines from their operating system for development purposes or to test their new browsers without disturbing our main PC. The first way we have to download these Windows 1 virtual machines is to do it.
In it we are going to find a machine with a Windows 11 Enterprise installed, along with a number of development tools and the SDKs so that we can use it to build, test, and publish our applications. These machines usually have a limited validity of 3 months and are based on the latest version of Windows 10. They include the Windows 10 SDK, VisualStudio 2022, .NET and Azure desktop enabled, and comes with the Windows Template Studio extension. We will also find the latest version of Visual Studio Code, Windows Subsystem for Linux enabled with Ubuntu installed, and developer mode enabled in the operating system.
In total, a 20 GB machine.
A lightweight Windows 10 with Edge (deprecated)
And if we want something simpler and lighter, then we can turn to machines with Edge. These, which we can find at , are valid for 90 days, but instead of bringing so many programs, they are much simpler, and only bring the operating system and Microsoft browsers. On the other hand, instead of 20 GB they only occupy 6 GB.
Adguard, the history of Microsoft virtual machines
guard is a platform that seeks to make it easier for users to download files from Microsoft servers. On this website we are going to find everything that any user interested in Windows, or other Microsoft products, needs. We have a search engine by categories where we will select the product and the edition that we need and, from a button, we will be able to download it directly. All official and unmodified.
As we can see, it has a virtual machine download section from where we will be able to download these VMs. These machines are not very up-to-date, but they can be used to get out of more than one situation. We can access these VMs. We are going to be able to download even Windows XP virtual machines, created by Microsoft.
Of course, the last machine registered on this platform is Windows 10, so if we are looking to download Windows 11 for VirtualBox or VMware, we will not be able to do it from here.
Well
There is no doubt that lovers of the products of the software giant Microsoft will find here a real treasure in the form of virtual machines. From this website we will have the possibility of downloading the VMs of a multitude of products including the Windows operating systems of this firm, all of it in a simple and free way. The website itself offers us a multitude of parameters to be able to choose the virtual machine that best suits what we need at that moment.
Bad
What we must be very clear about here is that this web page for downloading Microsoft virtual machines needs a major update at the content level. We are not going to find some of the most recent versions and editions of Windows, which for many can become a serious inconvenience. With everything and with it, many of the machines available here can be used to get out of more than one situation.
How to open the downloaded VM
We already have our virtual machine downloaded from any of the three previous methods, now we just have to start it up. For this, what we must do is open the file with the Import option of our program. In the case of using VirtualBox, for example, we will choose the option to import the OVA that we have downloaded from Microsoft servers.
When importing it, we will be able to see a simple wizard through which we can configure our VM. We can choose the name of the system, the type, the RAM, the CPU… By default, Microsoft has configured enough hardware for it to work, but we can expand it and better adjust it to our PC.
Once the virtual machine has been added to the program, we can now run it. When doing so, the first time we will have to complete a simple configuration wizard, similar to what we would see when buying a new PC with Windows installed. We can choose the language, the keyboard layout, the time zone…
Ready. Now we can start using our virtual machine.
Other websites to download VM
In addition to Microsoft VMs with Windows 10, and other versions of its operating system, we can also find several websites from which to download other virtualized operating systems, especially Linux.
Osboxes, virtual machines for VirtualBox and VMware
on the website of Osboxes We are going to be able to find a good variety of Linux distros already installed and configured to use both VirtualBox and VMware. We will be able to download different versions and editions of Ubuntu, Arch Linux, Raspberry Pi OS, Kali Linux and even a VM to use Android on the PC.
We can access this website from .
I like
The distribution of the different types of virtual machines on the website makes it very easy to find the one we are looking for. Very simple yet intuitive site design and virtual machines are available for both VirtualBox and VMWare.
I don’t like
Not many details are given about the content offered before downloading. In addition, they only offer proposals for two virtualization programs despite having other options available, although they are less used by both companies and individuals.
VirtualBoxes, a large collection of virtualized Linux systems
This website is specialized in distributing images for VirtualBox, although we can also use them in VMware in case of using this other software. Here we are going to find, above all, Linux systems installed, configured and ready to work in any of these programs. In addition, we will also find other alternative operating systems, such as FreeBSD, FreeDOS and even Android.
We can download these VMs.
Advantages
The download web page offers us a large number of additional elements such as documentation and screenshots of the machines in order to have all the necessary information to opt for one option or another without having to try them beforehand. It puts at our disposal a wide variety of options, all of them arranged in alphabetical order so that knowing what we are looking for, it is very easy to find it.
Disadvantages:
Virtual machines are only available for VirtualBox, not from VMware or other applications to create virtual machines The navigation through the website is not entirely intuitive.
Virtual Disk Images, virtual machines from old operating systems
Virtual Disk Images It is not specialized in Linux distros like the previous ones, but rather it is specialized in allowing us to download old (very old) versions of Microsoft systems. For example, we will be able to download virtual machines from Windows 95, 98, Windows NT, Windows ME and even from MS-DOS alone, or with Windows 3.11, ready to test both in VirtualBox and in VMware.
We can download these operating systems from .
In favor
This website makes virtual machines of old versions of operating systems available to us, so it is ideal for running old applications or games that do not work on computers with more current versions of Windows. We have a very simple and easy interface to see the downloads.
Against:
Linux lovers will be somewhat limited in terms of options to choose and download. The number of virtual machines is less than that of other options that we mention in this compilation.
Virtual Machines, OVAs to load in VirtualBox
On the Virtual Machines website we will be able to find a good collection of virtual machines in OVA format, that is, for use in VirtualBox. These virtual machines are published on GitHub, and in each of them we will find their main characteristics, such as the distro and desktop used, if they have the Guest Additions, packages and programs included, and the password. We can find both machines for personal use and more specific configurations for development.
We can download all these machines for free from .
Pros
This is one of the most complete websites that we show in this compilation for downloading virtual machine images, since it also includes the included Guest Additions, so it is not necessary to install them afterwards. We can find all kinds of virtual machines, focused on application development, testing its operation or simply to use it on a regular basis.
cons
Through this web page, we can only access virtual machines already created exclusively for VirtualBox. Unfortunately, if we are looking for virtual machines for VMware this is not the web page we are looking for.
DescargarMaquinasVirtuales, a portal with the main Linux
Another website that we can use to download virtual machines already created and configured for Linux, in Spanish, is this. In it we will be able to find machines created with CentOS, Debian, Kali and Ubuntu ready to mount on any platform, be it VirtualBox or VMware.
We can easily download these machines. The pity is that they are somewhat outdated (the last ones date from 2020).
In favor
The available virtual machines are valid for both VirtualBox and VMware. Also, of each version, desktop and server versions are available.
Against
The most up-to-date version of any of the virtual machines available on this website is from 2020, so everything seems to indicate that the creator of the website does not intend to continue updating it. The web does not offer us additional information about the virtual machines available beyond the version number and whether it is a server or desktop.
How to use downloaded virtual machines
Downloads for the latest versions of Windows are between approximately 4.5 GB and 20 GB in size, depending on the edition chosen. And, in the case of Linux images, the size can be quite a bit smaller. When downloading the image, on most websites, we can choose what type of virtual machine we are going to use it for. In our case we are going to show how it would work in VirtualBox, although if we choose VMware, the process will be very similar.
Once the corresponding image has been downloaded, we unzip it on our hard drive (if we have an SSD, the better, to speed up loading times) and open our VirtualBox and choose the option «Import a virtualized service» to import the Microsoft image to our system. We can also double click on the file that is surely associated with our VM software.
As we progress through the wizard we will be able to see the different options that our virtual machine will have, such as its hardware. Now we won’t be able to change it, but if we want to, we can adapt it later.
We continue and, after a few minutes, the program will have finished importing the image. We now have our virtual operating system ready to go. If we have opted for a Windows machine, the system will be the official Microsoft one, ready to…