5 ms·

What's the licensing situation for these VMs? What can I use them for, for how long, and what limitations are in place?

rms_returns 11y ago
Even if the licensing terms were liberal, are you going to use an OS that hasn't been issued system updates since ages? It will be riddled with malware the moment you connect to the Internet!
- PietdeVries 11y ago
  I would almost say "challenge accepted" - this calls for a little test! I don't believe that the images that Microsoft made available are so vulnerable as-they-are that they will be infected within hours...
  - tdicola 11y ago
    You must not remember some of the more memorable worms like blaster. It was a complete nightmare and would own machines that weren't behind a firewall in minutes. Luckily long since patched, but it's only a matter of time for others.
    - PietdeVries 11y ago
      True - those were the days... However, I believe these OS-es come with certain presets that will not expose them to the wild-internet immediately. I assume (yes - assume) that MS has enabled the firewalls per default on these images, so unless you use them to browse to certain "entertainment sites" you should be quite ok... Edit: ok, ran a lab-test (so not the real thing): Windows XP with IE6 on one VM, Kali with Armitage on the other. A "Hail Mary" of 22 exploits did not result in any session on the windows machine...
- uulbiy 11y ago
  Actually, you can update with windows update. It will take a lot of time though.
  - jmnicolas 11y ago
    But when was the last update for Win XP ? 2 years ago ?
    - danellis 11y ago
      So use Windows 10.
- ordinary 11y ago
  Use? No. Test with? Certainly.
- pmontra 11y ago
  The naive scenario is to fire up those VMs in a network completely contained within your development system and test locally. This makes the VMs safe. However this seldom works because web sites, even the ones running on localhost, have all sort of external dependencies, from webfonts to third part assets stored on CDNs. So VMs need an access to the Internet and that access could compromise them. Probably restoring them from the original image after each shutdown is the best way to fix this issue.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
pmalynin 11y ago
90 days. Also "You may use the software for testing purposes only. You may not use the software for commercial purposes. You may not use the software in a live operating environment. " From: https://modernievirt.blob.core.windows.net/vhd/release_notes_license_terms_1_5_15.pdf https://modernievirt.blob.core.windows.net/vhd/release_notes...
- starquake 11y ago
  It also shuts down automatically after about an hour
  - danielrm26 11y ago
    Seriously?
    - Already__Taken 11y ago
      That may be something it does once you blow past the 90 day limits but really just rebuild the VM / roll back to snapshots.
  - 2III7 11y ago
    No it doesn't. I used win10 continuously for hours.
  - Piskvorrr 11y ago
    ...after the 90-day limit expires.
- stephenr 11y ago
  They specifically suggest "create a snapshot that you can roll back to later" to effectively remove the 90 day limit. Seems reasonable

Even if the licensing terms were liberal, are you going to use an OS that hasn't been issued system updates since ages? It will be riddled with malware the moment you connect to the Internet!

PietdeVries 11y ago
I would almost say "challenge accepted" - this calls for a little test! I don't believe that the images that Microsoft made available are so vulnerable as-they-are that they will be infected within hours...
- tdicola 11y ago
  You must not remember some of the more memorable worms like blaster. It was a complete nightmare and would own machines that weren't behind a firewall in minutes. Luckily long since patched, but it's only a matter of time for others.
  - PietdeVries 11y ago
    True - those were the days... However, I believe these OS-es come with certain presets that will not expose them to the wild-internet immediately. I assume (yes - assume) that MS has enabled the firewalls per default on these images, so unless you use them to browse to certain "entertainment sites" you should be quite ok... Edit: ok, ran a lab-test (so not the real thing): Windows XP with IE6 on one VM, Kali with Armitage on the other. A "Hail Mary" of 22 exploits did not result in any session on the windows machine...
uulbiy 11y ago
Actually, you can update with windows update. It will take a lot of time though.
- jmnicolas 11y ago
  But when was the last update for Win XP ? 2 years ago ?
  - danellis 11y ago
    So use Windows 10.
ordinary 11y ago
Use? No. Test with? Certainly.
pmontra 11y ago
The naive scenario is to fire up those VMs in a network completely contained within your development system and test locally. This makes the VMs safe. However this seldom works because web sites, even the ones running on localhost, have all sort of external dependencies, from webfonts to third part assets stored on CDNs. So VMs need an access to the Internet and that access could compromise them. Probably restoring them from the original image after each shutdown is the best way to fix this issue.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

pmalynin 11y ago

90 days. Also "You may use the software for testing purposes only. You may not use the software for commercial purposes. You may not use the software in a live operating environment. " From: https://modernievirt.blob.core.windows.net/vhd/release_notes_license_terms_1_5_15.pdf https://modernievirt.blob.core.windows.net/vhd/release_notes...

starquake 11y ago
It also shuts down automatically after about an hour
- danielrm26 11y ago
  Seriously?
  - Already__Taken 11y ago
    That may be something it does once you blow past the 90 day limits but really just rebuild the VM / roll back to snapshots.
- 2III7 11y ago
  No it doesn't. I used win10 continuously for hours.
- Piskvorrr 11y ago
  ...after the 90-day limit expires.
stephenr 11y ago
They specifically suggest "create a snapshot that you can roll back to later" to effectively remove the 90 day limit. Seems reasonable