When resource needs change, classic VMs have limited mechanisms for adjusting their resource needs. Traditional VMs apportion statically sized allocations of host memory. Once it's installed, the dynamic base image occupies about 500 MB of disk space. With the help of this scheme, Windows Sandbox has a full Windows installation to boot from without needing to download or store an extra copy of Windows.īefore Windows Sandbox is installed, the dynamic base image package is stored as a compressed 30-MB package. A complete Windows image can be constructed from a combination of the sharable immutable files on the host and the pristine copies of the mutable files. A small subset of operating system files are mutable and can't be shared, so the sandbox base image contains pristine copies of them.

Most OS files are immutable and can be freely shared with Windows Sandbox. Rather than requiring a separate copy of Windows to boot the sandbox, Dynamic Base Image technology uses the copy of Windows already installed on the host. Windows Sandbox benefits from new container technology in Windows to achieve a combination of security, density, and performance that isn't available in traditional VMs.

Windows 11 sandbox