By Julie Bort, Network World |

All hail Hyper-V: the hypervisor finally, officially arrives

After nearly five years of work, Microsoft released its virtualization hypervisor today. (See story: Microsoft ships Hyper-V)

Can't beat the price: Hyper-V is free to users with a Windows Server 2008 license, and a stand-alone version (due by year-end) will cost just $28. But Hyper-V is lacking live migration and the ability to add memory to a virtual server while it's running -- features VMware has. One thing neither vendor has yet: a single console for managing VMs and physical servers from multiple vendors. Stay tuned: Virtualization management is the next big battleground for Microsoft, VMware and a slew of other players.

Stay tuned to Glenn Weadock's blog on Windows Server 2008. He is downloading the shipping version of Hyper-V as you read this and will be posting his own tales from the field in the coming days. In the meantime, here's more to read on Hyper-V:

Hyper-V review: good stuff even without great management

David and Goliath: How Hyper-V will kill VMWare

Q&A: VMware's CEO talks Microsoft, security, EMC and cloud computing

Vitual goo

What does it take to manage virtual servers?

Will VMware offer better ROI than Hyper-V? Some claim yes.

VMware vs. everyone

Microsoft & Citrix accidently create virtualization battleground

Hyper-V leaves Linux out in the cold

Product test: Windows Server 2008