Microsoft unwraps release candidate of Hyper-V

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 19 Mar 2008 at 15:11

Microsoft has released a "feature-complete" release candidate of its server virtualisation software, Hyper-V.

Hyper-V had originally been intended to be launched with Windows Server 2008 last month, but was only included in beta form.

Microsoft has now updated the "near-final" code and made it available for download from its website.

New features in the release candidate include an extended list of guest operating systems, including Novell Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1 and, intriguingly, Windows XP SP3 - suggesting the latter must be very close to release.

Microsoft claims the release candidate also boasts better stability and performance than the earlier beta, plus extended support for foreign languages.

The company adds that today's release "is a key milestone signaling that Microsoft is on track to deliver Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtualisation by August 2008."