All of the Windows 11 VMs, including VMWare and Parallels, are unavailable for download

Microsoft says it's temporary.

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by Milan Stanojevic 

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VMWare Parallels

Microsoft is temporarily stopping access to all of the free Windows 11 virtual machines, especially Parallels (macOS) and VMware (multi-platform). This was announced in a short note in the latest blog post on the Developer’s site.

In a statement posted to the Windows Development Environment website, Microsoft says that it’s “temporarily” pulling the Windows 11 virtual machines due to “ongoing technical issues.”

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

Microsoft

This could be a bit troublesome for managers and developers. Here’s why. Currently, the Windows Development Environment virtual machines are available in four types: VMware, Hyper-V Gen 2, Parallels Desktop, and VirtualBox. Microsoft usually updates these virtual machines every month after the Patch Tuesday updates.

It’s not clear what caused the technical problems, but customers can no longer download or activate any of Microsoft’s four Windows 11 virtual machines in Hyper-V, VMware, VirtualBox, and Parallels formats. If you already have one of the Windows 11 virtual machines up and running, it will now display a persistent “Activate Windows” watermark and automatically shut down every hour.

The official Windows 11 virtual machines still have value. They are equipped with Windows 11 Enterprise and provide a complete set of development tools, such as Visual Studio, Windows Subsystem for Linux, Terminal, developer mode, and more.

More about the topics: vmare, Windows

Milan Stanojevic

Milan Stanojevic Shield

Windows Toubleshooting Expert

Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He's a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology. Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he's one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.

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