Microsoft’s Official Windows 11 Virtual Machines Unavailable

Microsoft is currently grappling with some unspecified issues regarding its official virtual machine offerings. This situation goes beyond the previously delisted Parallels configuration from July; all four versions are now inaccessible for download.

As of October 23, 2024, all Windows 11 Development Environment virtual machines have reached their expiration. Therefore, if you are operating on one, you will encounter activation difficulties. The Windows Development Environment does not allow activation through product keys, leading expired virtual machines to change their desktop background to black and enforce shutdown after an hour.

Details regarding the predicament of these virtual machines are scant from Microsoft. The extent of the information available is limited to a brief notification on their official site stating:

Note: Due to ongoing technical issues, as of October 23, 2024, downloads are temporarily unavailable.

The last update released for the Windows 11 Development Environment virtual machine occurred in July 2024, utilizing Windows 11 build 22621.3880 (updates from July 2024 Patch Tuesday). In early August, Microsoft had previously reinstated the virtual machines for VMware, extending the expiration to October 23. With that date now passed, users can no longer download or effectively utilize Microsoft’s evaluation virtual machines.

For those unfamiliar with the offerings, the Windows 11 Development Environment could be accessed in four configurations: Hyper-V, Parallels for Mac, VirtualBox, and VMware. These are preconfigured virtual machines that run on Windows 11 Enterprise, incorporating all essential tools for Windows app development. This includes Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition with UWP,. NET Desktop, Azure, and the Windows App SDK for C#. Additionally, features such as Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 with Ubuntu, Windows Terminal, and Developer mode are included.

We will continue monitoring the situation regarding Microsoft’s Windows 11 virtual machines and will update you once they become available for download again.

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