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# MICROSOFT DEV BOX CLOUD-POWERED WORKSTATIONS SOON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
Microsoft has announced that its Dev Box, a cloud-powered workstation for developers, will be publicly available in July 2023. Initially released as a developer-only preview in August 2022, the Dev Box saves developers time by providing them with preconfigured, cloud-based PCs that are ready-to-code and can be used for testing various projects.
# WINDOWS 365 FOUNDATIONS FOR MICROSOFT DEV BOX
Built on the foundations of Windows 365, the Dev Box can be accessed from any modern web browser and can support any integrated development environment (IDE), software development kit (SDK), or tools that run on Windows. The Dev Box is designed to save developers time when switching between different projects, removing the hours—or sometimes days—required to run through laborious onboarding processes, such as installing and configuring required tools.
# FEATURES OF MICROSOFT DEV BOX
The Dev Box can be configured with up to 32 vCPUs, 128GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage. When the Dev Box becomes available to the public, developers can choose between a selection of SKUs, including machines with 16 or 32 virtual CPUs (vCPU) and 64GB or 128GB of RAM, as well as the existing eight vCPUs/32GB RAM option. A 2TB SSD storage option will also be available.
# IMPROVING DEVELOPER PRODUCTIVITY AT MICROSOFT
According to Anthony Cangialosi, a group product manager in Microsoft’s developer division, over 9,500 Microsoft engineers are already using Dev Boxes across the developer division, Azure, Office, Bing, and Windows teams. Cangialosi notes that at Microsoft, the onboarding process, which previously took days, now takes around 20 minutes when using Dev Box. Each time Cangialosi creates a Dev Box, it has all the necessary tools, source, and binaries needed to run complex projects at Microsoft, shortening onboarding time for partners and new team members alike.
# ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR DEVELOPERS
To help developers get started with the Dev Box, Microsoft has created several starter images for Windows client and Visual Studio (2019 and 2022) containing Windows optimizations, apps, and settings. Microsoft has not disclosed pricing information for Dev Boxes, but the company previously announced plans to charge for compute and storage on a per-hour basis. Microsoft is also announcing Dev Home for Windows, which makes it easier for developers to reinstall Windows apps on a new machine and configure coding environments, and Dev Drive, which is designed to balance performance and security for developer storage.
Sources:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-to-deliver-a-range-of-preconfigured-dev-box-cloud-workstations-in-july-2023/
https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/16/microsoft-debuts-dev-box-an-azure-powered-workstation-for-developers/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dev-home/dev-home-overview
