The simple answer to your question is, yes. What you suggest doing is done all the time, but typically on a larger scale and utilizing some different technologies to make life easier.
Each version of Windows gets even more flexible and easier to do this with. Windows 10 is extremely easy to image and deploy because of its vast array of drivers and automatic download of drivers it needs.
Although there is a large amount of customization and automation you can do using the Windows 10 ADK, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, and Windows Deployment Services, the most simple method for your needs should be this:
- Install the OS on a VM.
- Create your user account, install all the updates, install all the software, and customize everything as you see fit.
- Take a snapshot of the VM. So you can rollback.
- Sysprep the machine using the
/generalize
option.
- Clone the entire VM disk to different hardware and boot it.
- Install any missing drivers you need.
For future maintenance of the VM, first rollback to the snapshot you made. Then you can install updates and do any other maintenance. Then do steps 3 through 6 again.
If you want to get fancy you can research the three different technologies I mentioned above. But, primarily you’ll want the Windows 10 ADK. With tools it provides you’ll be able to capture and deploy images, customize your deployment with unattend files, inject drivers and updates to an offline Windows image, create a WinPE environment, etc.
The possibilities are endless. It’s really quite amazing some of the technology Microsoft builds in to Windows that most people don’t even know exists.