What is Dev Home for Windows 11?

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If you're a programmer who gets tired of setting up software dependencies and dealing with lots of stuff, you're in luck. Microsoft has developed Dev Home, a dedicated platform for developers on Windows 11, to help them improve their productivity and work more efficiently.

What is Dev Home for Windows 11?

It's not uncommon for developers to have complex workflows, involving complex project setups. This includes seamlessly switching between applications, navigating to the relevant file system folder, and using multiple login accounts to get the job done.

Microsoft introduced Dev Home to simplify workflow while allowing developers to focus on what matters. The Redmond giant first introduced this feature on the Windows Developer Blog in May 2023.

The Dev Home Control Center allows users to quickly set up a custom programming environment, install related packages, easily clone archives from GitHub, and monitor projects from a personalized dashboard. Personalize, even create a dedicated file system - Dev Drive.

While Linux is a popular choice among programmers, the latest improvements in Windows, such as improving WSL 2 and introducing Dev Home, could make Win 11 a more attractive development choice.

How to have Dev Home on Windows 11

Microsoft has made Dev Home available as a preview in Windows 11. If your PC runs Win 11, you can download it for free via the Microsoft Store. To download Dev Home on Windows 11:

1. Open the Start menu , find Microsoft Store > select Best match .

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2. In the search bar at the top, find Dev Home . Select Dev Home (Preview) from the search results and click Get to download the app.

3. Once the download is complete, you can use the Dev Home app previewer .

Why use Dev Home on Windows?

In terms of developer tools, Dev Home is possibly one of the best additions since WSL 2. If you're a seasoned developer, you'll see that. Thanks to it, developers can focus more on the development process instead of just making sure the project is set up correctly without packaging or dependency issues.

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Dev Home has some essential features, such as advanced GitHub integration, customizable dashboard widgets, a Dev Drive and more.

Quick project setup

One of the main advantages of Dev Home is that it makes setting up a new project on a PC easy. You can get your project up and running in a few clicks with an existing WinGet configuration file. The previously troublesome process is now conveniently automated, making setup quick and error-free. You no longer need to search for the right package, tool and software version.

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With Dev Home's machine configuration, you can clone a Git repository easily and install its dependencies with a single click. If you need to install specific applications like Visual Studio, PowerShell, SQL Server, you can do this directly through Dev Home.

Set up GitHub easily

The GitHub extension for Dev Home allows you to easily integrate your codebase and generalize your project in an organized way. You can also use Dev Home to configure cloud code environments like GitHub Codespaces and Microsoft DevBox.

Dev Home also provides a convenient platform for managing various aspects of GitHub's workflow. This includes handling pull requests, errors, SSH keys, and built-in tools, all within the Dev Home environment.

Dev Drive file system

Dev Drive is a dedicated storage for programmers. It improves performance and security to help users easily manage multiple folders containing hundreds of files.

Microsoft explained the effectiveness of this system on the Windows Developer blog as follows:

Dev Drive based on the Resilient File System, combined with the new performance mode in Microsoft Defender for Antivirus, provides up to 30% increase in file system enhancement at build time for file I/O scenarios. The new performance mode is more secure for your workloads than excluding folders or processes, providing a unique solution to balance security with performance.

Better performance with customizable control panel

You can easily track your workflow using the Dev Home dashboard. With customizable widget, you can show current CPU and free memory, GitHub pull request & error, SSH keychain…

Overall, Dev Home is a great tool for developers on Windows 11. Try it and see for yourself!

Isabella Humphrey

Update 27 June 2023