Windows 10 to get disposable sandboxes for dodgy apps

Enlarge (credit: F Delventhal)

Microsoft is building a new Windows 10 sandboxing feature that will let users run untrusted software in a virtualized environment that's discarded when the program finishes running.

The new feature was revealed in a bug-hunting quest for members of the Insider program and will carry the name "InPrivate Desktop." While the quest has now been removed, the instructions outlined the basic system requirements-a Windows 10 Enterprise system with virtualization enabled and adequate disk and memory-and briefly described how it would be used. There will be an InPrivate Desktop app in the store; running it will present a virtualized desktop environment that can be used to run questionable programs and will be destroyed when the window is closed.

While it would, of course, be possible to manually create a virtual machine to run software of dubious merit, InPrivate Desktop will streamline and automate that process, making it painless to run things in a safe environment. There's some level of integration with the host operating system-the clipboard can be used to transfer data, for example-but one assumes that user data is off limits, preventing data theft, ransomware, and similar nastiness.

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