Microsoft releases Microsoft Edge virtual machine images

Windows 10's usage share is on the rise and with it comes a new default system browser called Microsoft Edge.

While Edge does not have the market share of Firefox, Chrome or even Internet Explorer yet, it will be a force to reckon with in the future.

Web Developers who want to make sure that content and services work fine under Microsoft Edge need to test them regularly to make sure that this is the case.

This meant up until now to install a copy of Windows 10 on a machine or in a virtual environment to do so.

Things have gotten a bit easier now as Microsoft released a virtual machine image of Microsoft Edge that developers can use for testing purposes. While intended for developers, and here especially web developers, the images are free to download and use which means that users interested in Microsoft Edge can test it on any system provided that one of the supported virtualization products is supported on it.

Note: Microsoft Edge on windows 10 is offered for the three platforms VMWare, VirtualBox and HyperV on Windows, Parallels, VirtualBox and VMware on Macs, and VirtualBox on Linux. All images have a size of about 5 Gigabytes packed, and downloads are provided as single files and as multi-part downloads.

Virtual machines expire after 90 days. Microsoft recommends to create a snapshot after installation to roll back to it later.

Extract the archive on your system once you have downloaded the file/files. The format of the machine depends on the selected platform, if you have selected a VMware image it is offered as an .ova file.

Microsoft Edge is listed as Internet Explorer 11 when you load the machine in the application. You may configure it prior to launching Edge, for instance by changing the RAM available for the environment before you hit the start button.

Closing Words

The Microsoft Edge virtual machine images provide developers with the means to test web applications and sites in Microsoft's newest web browser without having to get a copy of Windows 10. This is especially useful for developers on Mac and Linux systems, and for developers who don't want to update their Windows machines to Windows 10.