Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Microsoft offers 4 different virtual environments in the cloud that can be accessed & used by developers, depending on need:

1. Azure Virtual Desktop
   https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/virtual-desktop/
   Microsoft’s Enterprise cloud-hosted VDI offering.  A fully IT-managed Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platform with complete configurability for OS, software & hardware – including the ability to add Nvidia GPUs. Optionally available for integration with 3^rd party tools including Citrix XenDesktop, VMware Horizon, and other historically on-prem 3^rd party VDI solutions.  Costs are determined based on monthly usage & configuration.  The original Microsoft hosted desktop offering and the one with the greatest maturity & largest ecosystem.
   
2. Microsoft Windows 365
   https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-365
   Provides a Windows 10/11 virtual machine and persists the user’s personalized apps, content, and settings—from the Microsoft cloud to any device.  Uniquely available in “t-shirt sizes” providing a flat monthly price for each subscribed VM, ranging from $39-$65/month depending on configuration – with the caveat that there is very little flexibility in hardware configuration beyond what initial VM option is chosen.  With different options available for small & medium businesses vs Enterprise-class customers, Windows 365 provides a turnkey solution for individuals and organizations looking for a balance between predictable costs as well as VM-level flexibility.
   
3. Microsoft DevBox – Virtual Machines for Developers
   https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-microsoft-dev-box-preview/
   Service that provides hosted Windows hardware & software tailored to development work. Enables quick provisioning of standard tools & platform software for developers in a hosted environment.  Leverages Windows 365 as the backend.  Full hosted Windows VM – full control over the hosted environment including having Administrator privileges to configure the OS & even install applications like SQL Server.  Can be managed using Intune/Endpoint Manager.  Works with any IDE and any source control system that runs on Windows.  Can be managed using Intune, Endpoint Manager or the Azure portal.
   
4. GitHub Codespaces
   https://github.com/features/codespaces
   A GitHub Codespace is a development environment that’s hosted in the cloud. Customize your project for GitHub Codespaces by configuring dev container files to your repository (often known as configuration-as-code), which creates a repeatable codespace configuration for all users of your project. GitHub Codespaces run on a various VM-based compute options hosted by GitHub.com, which you can configure from 2 core machines up to 32 core machines. Connect to your codespaces from the browser or locally using an IDE like Visual Studio Code or IntelliJ.