Multipass

Multipass is a tiny virtual machine manager that aims to provide a simple command line environment for launching, managing or fiddling with instances of Linux. The tool can be especially useful for any developer who prefers a clean and fresh Linux environment for various projects.

It is worth mentioning that on Windows operating systems, the utility relies on Hyper-V, although you also have the option to choose Oracle VM VirtualBox as a hypervisor. Moreover, the tool is designed to automatically find and display the freshest Ubuntu images from Canonical, so users do not have to waste any more time looking for the right updates at launch. Users can also enjoy Ubuntu kernels customized for the desired hypervisor and having the best performance in mind.

The Ubuntu instances are launched and initialized with cloud-init metadata similarly to Oracle, IBM, Google, Azure or AWS clouds. It is possible to simulate a small cloud deployment on a computer desktop as well as a laptop.   

According to the developer, your primary instance benefits from special treatment because it permits the integration of the current workstation's native filesystem and comes with dedicated hot key access. This is why sharing files and directories between the Home folder and various instances is straightforward.