Things definitely seem to be coming thick and fast. Microsoft has added more features to Windows 2008 R2, specifically the ability to support 64 logical processors. This number of processors was considered to only be available in highly specialized platforms 3 years ago, it seems we are now going to a new definition of scalability! As a result this new OS appears to directly attack the concept of Windows not being a viable VM platform. Remember Windows 2008 didn’t actually come out that long ago, but if we have a look at the history of logical processor support for Hyper-V (this was taken from the above link):
* Server 2008 Hyper-V 16 LP Support
* Server 2008 Hyper-V +update (KB95670) 24 LP Support
* Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Original POR 32 LP Support
* Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V RC/RTM 64 LP Support!
Stunning difference! It definitely seems VMWare has awoken the slumbering giant. This in conjunction with Live Migration – I have to say things are starting to look good as a developer 
, roll on Windows 2008 RC2!
I have to say I’m really looking forward to this release, I think IT shops will start to push developers into smaller scalable instances of the VMs. Exactly (as it appears) Microsoft is doing with the embedded XP mode within Windows 7.
And don’t forget that R2 is a pure 64 bit OS, so this is really a milestone release – and it could be argued R2 is an understatement!
Gareth