User:Insomnia/Sandbox/3

Microsoft Emulator
	Manager page
Type	hypervisor
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Host platform	Microsoft Windows
Guest platform	x64
Initial release version	1.1.11.0
Initial release date
Latest release version	1.1.1081.0
Latest preview version
Latest release date	9 March 2022
License
Website

Hyper-V
	Hyper-V running Windows 10, version 22H2
Type	Hypervisor
Developer(s)	Microsoft Corporation
Host platform	Windows (x64/ARM64)
Guest platform	x86/x64/ARM64 (virtualized)
Initial release version	6.0.6001.18000 (2008-02-27)
Initial release date
Latest release version	10.0.22621.1 (2022-09-20)
Latest preview version
Latest release date
License
Website

Hyper-V (codenamed Viridian)^[1] is a native 64-bit PC-compatible virtualization solution released by Microsoft, and 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 as an optional installable component on Pro and higher editions. Its associated graphical user interface, the Hyper-V Manager, is a Microsoft Management Console snap-in.

The hypervisor is also available as part of a separate Windows Server Core operating system release named Hyper-V Server (first introduced alongside Windows Server 2008), which can be used to host virtual machines en masse for applications such as database management, mission critical systems or file storage.

Unlike Virtual PC, Hyper-V is a "level 1 hypervisor" and was therefore unable to coexist with competing solutions like VirtualBox or VMware, which both are "level 2 hypervisors" until the release of the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, which implemented support for the Windows Hypervisor Platform,^[2] allowing third-party virtualization software to run and manage virtual machines side-by-side with Hyper-V.^[3]^[4]

Supported guest operating systems[edit | edit source]

This is a definitive list of officially supported operating systems that can run under Hyper-V, as of Windows Server 2025.^[5]^[6]

Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 and above
Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 and above
Most Linux distributions

Deprecated operating systems[edit | edit source]

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.^[7]^[8]

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)

Gallery[edit | edit source]

Hyper-V Manager
Quick Create
New Virtual Machine Wizard
Import Virtual Machine
Hyper-V Settings
Virtual Switch Manager
Virtual SAN Manager
Edit Virtual Hard Disk Wizard
About Hyper-V Manager
Hyper-V booting Windows 8.1 build 9471
Hyper-V running Windows 10 build 10565

Microsoft Emulator[edit | edit source]

A stripped-down version of Hyper-V, called Microsoft Emulator has been released to emulate special variants of Windows, such as Windows 10X or the HoloLens 2 firmware.

In contrast to Hyper-V, Microsoft Emulator does not require an ISO file for installing the guest operating system. Instead, it uses "emulator images" in the format of VHDX files. These files can be obtained from the Microsoft Store servers or a designated internal server for internal operating systems. Currently, only the emulator images for two Manganese builds of Windows 10X (build 19563 and build 19578) are available to download publicly.