With XP Mode Update Hardware Virtualization Is No Longer Required Plus Dynamic Memory In Hyper-V and RemoteFX

Today Microsoft made made some virtualization-related announcements — including changes to XP Mode that will allow XP Mode in Windows 7 to run without virtualization enabled hardware.

Today, Microsoft is announcing Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. Detailed information regarding SP1 will be released over the next several months; but today Windows Server 2008 R2 is announcing that SP1 will deliver two important new features that directly affect Microsoft’s desktop virtualization stack: Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.

Dynamic memory is an enhancement to Hyper-V in R2 and allows IT administrators to pool all the memory available on a physical host and dynamically distribute it to virtual machines running on that host as necessary. That means based on changes in workload, your VMs will be able to receive new memory allocations without a service interruption. For a deeper look at Dynamic Memory check here.

RemoteFX is the latest addition to Microsoft’s desktop virtualization stack. Using this new feature in Windows Server 2008 R2, you’ll be able to deliver an even richer and more user-transparent desktop virtualization experience. RemoteFX functions independently of any graphics stack and supports any screen content, including rich content like Silverlight or Flash. Because it uses virtualized graphics resources, RemoteFX works on a wide array of target devices, which means you can deploy it over both thick and thin client hosts and a wide variety of network configurations. For some more information on RemoteFX check here.

We’ll be sharing more information on the contents and of SP1 in the coming months.

Dan Stolts