---
schema_version: "1"
id: ff9da69e28ff20332aa34a1220df1817744eccf8b92d0ce9b27319662063297d
title: Development Environments
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/release-notes/262-0-0/rn_dev_environments.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=release-notes.rn_dev_environments.htm&release=262.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 7b9239d71a3f0cd793bf38f31b1573a1a268046832d7be617a178358f28fa065
description: Development environments are full-featured Salesforce environments that you use to develop and test existing or new features and custom applications. They include Developer Edition orgs, sandboxes, and scratch orgs.
products:
  - Cross Cloud
release: "262"
---
# Development Environments

Development environments are full-featured Salesforce environments that you use to develop and test existing or new features and custom applications. They include Developer Edition orgs, sandboxes, and scratch orgs.

- **[The New Data Mask & Seed (Generally Available)](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=release-notes.rn_data_mask_and_seed.htm&release=262.0.0&type=5)**  
    Secure your sandbox data by using Salesforce's new Data Mask & Seed. Admins and dev teams can define Data Mask policies and use them to mask sensitive sandbox data, such as proprietary, restricted, government-regulated, and personally identifiable information (PII). The new Data Mask & Seed is a native Salesforce app and not a managed package. Being a native app, it requires no installation and the Salesforce platform automatically applies all necessary updates. Now generally available, Data Mask & Seed includes several new updates since its recent Beta release.
- **[Validate Production Readiness During a Release Upgrade by Using a Non-Preview Sandbox](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=release-notes.rn_sandbox_non_preview_selection.htm&release=262.0.0&type=5)**  
    During the transition from one Salesforce major release to another, sandboxes get upgraded on different timelines based on their release type. Preview sandboxes provide early access to new features and are upgraded approximately 6 weeks before production orgs, while non-preview sandboxes are upgraded as the major release upgrade completes. Between the completion of a major release upgrade and the start of the next release upgrade, we attempt to create preview sandboxes by default when you create or refresh a sandbox. Now, you can choose to create a non-preview sandbox during this window of time. Previously, you could create a non-preview sandbox during this time window only by contacting Salesforce Customer Support.
- **[Quick Create and Quick Clone Are Now Available for Government Cloud](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=release-notes.rn_sandbox_quick_copy_gov_cloud.htm&release=262.0.0&type=5)**  
    With the Quick Create technology, you can create a Full sandbox from a production org hosted on a Hyperforce instance faster than the legacy method. With the Quick Clone technology, you can replicate a Developer, Developer Pro, Partial, or Full sandbox hosted on a Hyperforce instance faster than the legacy method. While performance varies by org, most customers see processing times two to three times faster with Quick Create and Quick Clone than with the legacy methods.
- **[Scratch Org Storage Limit Has Increased](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=release-notes.rn_scratch_orgs_data_limit_increase.htm&release=262.0.0&type=5)**  
    The data storage limit for a scratch org is now 500 MB. Previously, the limit was 200 MB.