Windows 10’s New Sandbox Feature is Everything We’ve Always Wanted

RV_ · December 21, 2018

This article will be ignored by some folks who think they are technically too challenged for it. However, if folks learn how to sandbox they are likely never going to need tech help except when Windows screws up like October updates. This may be the best news for the technically challenged but are willing to learn.

Having said that, Microsoft lately has had terrible problems with updates and new features, some causing lost files and system crashes. My Apps pop up and then don't load all the time. A reload and they are fine. Windows stability is a moving target. I am using a VPN and have even had good luck with servers in Europe. Having a sandbox built in would be awesome for all of us.

But I strongly urge everyone to wait and see when it is stable. I am not even going to try it until the bugs have been worked out. For those brave souls with time, like I used to have before getting ready to move, Its ready to test.

Excerpt:

"There are some problems with VM software, though.

First, it can be expensive. Even if you use a free alternative like VirtualBox, you still need a valid Windows license to run on the virtualized OS. And sure, you can get away with not activating Windows 10, but that limits what you can test.

Second, running a VM at decent performance levels requires reasonably powerful hardware and lots of storage space. If you make use of snapshots, you can quickly fill up a smaller SSD. If you use a large HDD, then performance can be slow. You probably don’t want to use these power hungry resources on a laptop.

And finally, VMs are complicated. Not exactly something you want to set up just to test out a questionable executable file.

Fortunately, Microsoft has announced a new solution that solves all of these problems at once.

Windows Sandbox

In a post on Microsoft’s Tech Community blog, Hari Pulapaka details the new Windows Sandbox. Previously referred to as InPrivate Desktop, this feature creates an “isolated, temporary, desktop environment” that you can run software on without fear of harming your machine.

Much like a standard VM, any software you install in the Sandbox stays isolated and cannot affect the host machine. When you close the Sandbox, any programs you installed, files you added, and settings changes you made are deleted. The next time you run Sandbox, it’s back to a clean slate. Microsoft is using hardware-based virtualization, through hypervisor, to run a separate kernel so it can isolate Sandbox from the host.

This means you can safely download an executable file from a risky source and install in Sandbox without risk to your host system. Or you could quickly test out a development scenario in a fresh copy of Windows.

Impressively, the requirements are fairly low:

Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise build 18301 or later (currently not available, but should soon be released as an Insider Preview build)
x64 architecture
Virtualization capabilities enabled in BIOS
At least 4GB of RAM (8GB recommended)
At least 1 GB of free disk space (SSD recommended)
At least 2 CPU cores (4 cores with hyperthreading recommended)

One of the better parts of Sandbox is that you won’t need to download or create a virtual hard disk (VHD). Instead, Windows dynamically generates a clean snapshot OS based on the Host OS on your machine. In the process, it links to files that don’t change on the system and refers to common files that do change.

Much more in the original article here with screen shots and hotlinks: https://www.howtogeek.com/399153/windows-10s-new-sandbox-feature-is-everything-weve-always-wanted/

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