Microsoft Hyper-V available in RC1

Microsoft has announced the availability of Release Candidate version of its Hypervisor house, named Hyper-V. It is a reminder to the technology editor at the centre of its strategy in the area of virtualization.

The Release Candidate is obviously an important step, but a beta version of Hyper-V was already available with Windows Server 2008 and usable in its current state. Work continued and here is a list of major improvements between the beta and RC:

Stability and ease of grip improved:

· Users can now install the MMC Hyper-V on Vista SP1 to remotely control the operation of the Hyper-V systems

· Improved stability for large workloads

· Partly translated into German and Japanese

· Ability to enable Hyper-V without constraint language of the system (the interface will be in English of course)

Enhanced support of the host Windows Server 2008 with the addition of 64-bit editions

New systems invited supported:

· Windows Server 2003 x86 with two virtual processors

· Vista SP1 x86

· Windows XP SP3 x86

· The modules of integrating these systems are provided in the RC

Enhanced performance:

· Best performance for the management of workloads

· Best reconnaissance equipment

· Virtualization generally faster

Overall, all versions of Windows since XP are supported as guests systems. Technically speaking, any Linux distribution should operate smoothly, although only what the distribution SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 is certified (versions 32 and 64 bits). Development continues and the final version should bear a greater number of systems.

Regarding support for Linux distributions, the partnership between Novell and Microsoft is of course behind certification for SLES 10. For other systems, Microsoft has been working with XenSource, which has since been bought by Citrix. All distributions incorporating the Xen virtualization solution will be taken care of without any changes or action.

Another difference with the beta: Release Candidate is open to the public, although it must obviously possess any version of Windows Server 2008. All those who already have such a system and the beta Hyper-V can go to this page to read the detailed steps of the installation.

All available information on Hyper-V is accessible from the official page. To download, it should be noted that the Release Candidate should be available soon via Windows Update, as well as separate download.

Microsoft Hyper-V available in RC1