Microsoft Dev Box brings cloud-based development to the public

Microsoft’s Dev Box workstation service is now available to the general public after almost a year of being offered as a developer-only preview. 

As a cloud-based workstation service, Microsoft Dev Box is designed to deliver a scalable solution for development teams by providing developers with preconfigured, visualized environments.

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With cloud-based workstations, developers can access their development environment from anywhere using any device with an internet connection. The platform also features preconfigured settings with all the necessary tools, libraries, and frameworks developers need — and these settings can be tailored to specific projects.

The cloud-based environment is designed to allow programmers to focus on code, not infrastructure. Dev Box can integrate with popular development tools, like Visual Studio, for seamless integration across multiple Microsoft products. 

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In the same vein, Dev Box also integrates with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Intune to supply enterprise-level management abilities, like security compliance and a controlled development environment. 

The Dev Box service optimizes collaboration among team members by allowing multiple developers to work on shared projects within the same virtual environment. 

The service is designed with three organizational roles: The first belongs to the IT/DEV infrastructure admins, who can manage and set security policies and network configurations, and manage dev boxes via Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Endpoint Manager. 

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The second role is for the Dev team leads, who can create pools of dev boxes customized to each project and task.  And the last role supports any developer with self-service, on-demand dev boxes from the pools that have been enabled for a project. 

The Azure Compute Gallery also works as a scalable platform to share base images and manage image versions in the Dev Box ecosystem, making it easier for teams and developers to create tailored, project-specific workstations. 

Pricing will depend on the Dev Box usage and size, as it is available from 8 vCPUs with 32 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, all the way up to 32 vCPU with 128 GB of RAM with 2048 GB of storage.