Hyper-V

Hyper-V is a native 64-bit PC-compatible virtualization application released by Microsoft, and is the successor to Virtual PC. It was first included with x64 editions of Windows Server 2008, and has been freely available since Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, where it can be installed as an optional component on the Pro version and higher versions. The Hyper-V Manager is a MMC snap-in.

In certain x86 builds of Windows 8, Hyper-V Manager is present.

Although Hyper-V is not intended for the Home SKUs, it can be installed on Windows 10 Home unofficially using a batch file. Alongside, unlike Virtual PC, Hyper-V is a "level 1 hypervisor" and thus cannot coexist with VirtualBox or VMware, which both are "level 2 hypervisors". However, as of Windows 10, version 1803, Microsoft has added the Windows Hypervisor Platform to Windows, which allows third-party virtualization software like VMware or VirtualBox to run and manage virtual machines on the Hyper-V hypervisor.

Supported guest operating systems
A list of officially supported OSes that can run on Hyper-V in Windows 11.


 * Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 and above
 * Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 and above
 * Most versions of Linux

Deprecated operating systems
The following operating systems are supported on older versions of Hyper-V on older host Windows systems, but aren't supported in the latest Windows 11 version of Hyper-V.


 * Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 4 (support removed on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012)
 * Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows XP Professional x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 (support removed on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016)
 * Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (support removed on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016)
 * Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (support removed on Windows 11)
 * Windows Small Business Server 2011 (support removed on Windows 11)
 * Windows Home Server 2011 (support removed on Windows 11)
 * Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 (support removed on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012)