News

Microsoft Windows 8 Will Include Hyper-V

Hyper-V will be part of Microsoft's forthcoming client operating system.

• By Kurt Mackie
• 09/07/2011

Microsoft confirmed today that Windows 8 will include Hyper-V hypervisor, its client operating system still in development.

The announcement, in a blog post, validates work by veteran Microsoft watcher Mary-Jo Foley, who tracked the idea back to a Microsoft executive in 2009. Microsoft already provides Hyper-V for its Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 products, but client OS integration was previously only rumored.

Bringing Hyper-V to Windows 8 took some engineering savvy to accomplish, according to Matthew John, a program manager on Microsoft's Hyper-V team, in the blog post. He describes the architectural background for a Microsoft "bridge" solution that enables Wi-Fi packets to move from an external source to a virtual machine running Windows 8. Microsoft devised a solution that enables an external network switch to work with a physical network interface controller, for instance.

The Hyper-V integration into the client OS allows users to run 32-bit and 64-bit virtual machines on top of Windows 8 running on x86 hardware. It will allow software developers to work with multiple environments; IT pros can leverage desktop virtualization for different test configurations, John explained. However, there are still limitations with Hyper-V on Windows 8, which John described as:

• Apps dependent on hardware (for example, BitLocker and Measured Boot) will not work well in a virtual machine
• Apps with low latencies (below 10 milliseconds), such as music-mixing apps, could have issues in a virtual machine
• Games that require graphics processing units might not work well

One potential roadblock for organizations running virtual machines on top of Window 8 might be found in the licensing. John noted that "as a reminder, you will still need to license any operating systems you use in the VMs." It will also require having a 64-bit x86-based PC with 4 GB of RAM to run three or four virtual machines on Windows 8.

A few features were noted by John. Windows 8 Hyper-V will have the following capabilities:

• Dynamic memory for on-the-fly memory allocation (already a feature of Hyper-V running on Windows Server 2008 R2);
• VM Console or Remote Desktop Connection for monitoring virtual machines;
• A "live storage move" capability that enables virtual machines to be moved, even while running;
• A snapshot capability;
• Automatic patching via Windows Update ("Hyper-V virtual machines have all of the manageability benefits of Windows," John explained).

Microsoft currently offers desktop virtualization support on Windows 7 through its Virtual PC technology running Windows XP Mode. This solution allows Windows XP to run in a virtual machine on top of Windows 7, but it lacks the sort of robust management support that IT shops may require. Microsoft also offers desktop virtualization for Windows 7 clients that has such management capabilities via its Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) solution.

MED-V is benefit for organizations that can afford to pay for Microsoft's Software Assurance licensing option. It's also available for $1 per user per month more as part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack suite for Windows Intune subscribers. MED-V access rights also can be obtained through the Virtual Desktop Access license that Microsoft established in July 2010.

Microsoft's blog did not explain what happens to Virtual PC and MED-V desktop virtualization technologies when Windows 8 is released having Hyper-V capabilities.

In general, Microsoft plans to talk in greater detail about Windows 8 and Windows Server 8 at its sold-out Build conference, scheduled to begin Sept. 13 in Anaheim, Calif.

Here's a scorecard of features expected in Windows 8, as revealed by Microsoft so far: