Aviary

Why I built it

On a Mac, UTM makes QEMU friendly: a library of machines, a wizard, and a window for each one. Windows has QEMU and Hyper-V, but nothing quite like that. Aviary is my attempt at UTM for Windows. It's experimental and still growing.

What it does today

• Two engines: QEMU, with Windows Hypervisor Platform acceleration or software emulation, and native Hyper-V Generation 2 machines with Secure Boot and a virtual TPM.
• A library and a wizard: create Linux or Windows machines, then start, pause, and shut them down. Windows guests can skip the Microsoft account during setup.
• A built-in display for QEMU machines that resizes the guest to fit the window, with a full screen mode and clipboard sharing.
• SSH in one step: Aviary sets up and pins a key for each guest, so ssh works from any terminal. Drop files on a machine to copy them in.
• An MCP server lets Claude Code, Codex, and other AI tools start machines, take screenshots, type, and run commands in them, so agents can test in a VM instead of on your desktop.
• GPU sharing (experimental): give a Hyper-V Windows guest a slice of your GPU.

How it's built

• Native. C# and WinUI 3, with QEMU as a separate engine that Aviary controls over its own protocol.
• No admin rights. It installs per user and never elevates itself, turns on Windows features, or changes your network setup.
• Careful with your machines. Nothing listens on the network. Control channels are open only to your account, and Aviary never deletes a disk on its own.
• Strict by default. Every warning is an error, and tests drive a real QEMU.

What it can't do yet

• Snapshots, cloning, or importing existing machines.
• 3D graphics in QEMU guests. QEMU's Windows build can't back it yet.
• Run as a signed app. It isn't code-signed yet, so Windows names an unknown publisher.

Try it

In PowerShell:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/benjweaver/aviary/main/packaging/windows/install.ps1 | iex

It needs no admin rights, and checks the download before installing it. Or download the portable zip from Releases. It's free software under the GPL.