The Windows 8 user guide says Windows 8 supports client Hyper-V. So what exactly is Hyper-V? Well Hyper-V stands for Hypervisor based virtualization. Perhaps Hyper-V has been part of earlier two versions of Windows. Microsoft now plans to make it a part of client operating system by integrating this service with Windows 8. Sounds interesting isn’t it?  Yes it does.

Let me explain to you, step by step, how it works.

Introduction: Microsoft Client Hyper-V is a flexible, robust, and high performance client virtualization technology that enables IT pros and developers to run multiple operating system instances simultaneously on their Windows 8 computer. This lowers costs by consolidating hardware and improving efficiency through VM (Virtual Machine) compatibility with server Hyper-V. Well, Hyper-V is not only dedicated to programmers and developers – all end-users of Windows 8 can also benefit.

Installing virtualized operating systems on one PC was almost not possible on earlier client versions of Windows. Developers had to put an extra investment on setting up network infrastructure by placing an extra machine with operating system loaded and then connect it with LAN or Wi-Fi. All this is not required to be done in Hyper-V. You can create a virtualized operating system and a virtual network using switches thus making application interact with a computer that is inside your very own computer, simple as that.

How does it work?

Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system that has Second Level Address Translation (SLAT). SLAT is a feature present in the current generation of 64-bit processors by Intel & AMD. You’ll also need a 64-bit version of Windows 8, and at least 4GB of RAM. Hyper-V does support creation of both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems in the Virtual Machines.

•  First of all you need to install Hyper-V from the Windows feature console on Windows 8. Just tick mark the Hyper-V check box and press enter. Windows now reboots and Hyper-V gets installed on your PC.

• Second you need to create Virtual network. As usual, Network is created using switches, so create a switch using switch manager on the right hand side of the Hyper-V manager.

• Lastly you need to load virtual machine to use this switch. Create a virtual machine by clicking “new” and then “virtual machine” on right hand side.  You need to have an ISO file of an operating system to create a virtual machine. Suppose you want to have a virtual machine containing Windows 7 – make sure you have Windows 7 ISO file. You will be asked to install the operating system while creating a virtual machine. At that moment you need to load your ISO file.

This video from Microsoft, guides you through the process explained above. Do check it out.

In a latter post we will show you how to enable Hyper-V in Windows 8.