In this example I'll pick Windows 8.1 and go to step 2, but you can pick any other OS you need and continue the tutorial here. Windows 7 with IE8 or IE9, IE10 or IE11.On the page you can see there are 3 steps you need to take in order to start downloading a VM:ġ. Note that at this point you can also switch to downloading Virtual Machines for Mac and Linux. This option might not be available for long either. You can still get an XP VM by extracting the VirtualXPVHD.vhd file from XP Mode, as we explained in this tutorial, step 1 to 3. Update: Microsoft removed the links for the XP, Vista and Windows 8 VMs, probably in their ongoing efforts to promote the latest edition of the OS, Windows 10, to which you can upgrade for free from Win 7 and 8/8.1. Microsoft built these VMs in order to allow web developers to test their websites on all versions of Internet Explorer, but you can just use them to test the Windows of your choice on your current machine. You are now in the VM download section of the site, from where you can download various Windows Virtual Machines ranging from XP Windows 7 to 10. If you're not familiar with Microsoft's modern.IE site, head over to, now redirecting to. You can use fewer resources, but the experience won't be that good. Another option: Install Windows in a VM using installation ISOsįor a good experience running Windows in a VM, we recommend a Dual or Quad Core CPU, minimum 4 GB of RAM, and enough free space on your disk.In this tutorial we'll show you how to download a legal copy of Windows ( XP, Vista, 7, 8.1, 10) and run it in a virtual machine under Windows, Linux, or Mac. The safest and easiest way to test an operating system is inside a virtual machine, because it works right from your current OS, thus you don't need to modify partitions or deal with backups in order to do a standalone installation.

Windows 8 download for virtualbox