As of September 23, 2012, all students subscribed to DreamSpark program can download Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter free of charge.

Hyper-V itself requires no licensing outside of your normal Windows licensing to run virtualization with Windows. So, the licensing that we are referring to here is Windows licensing as it relates to Windows virtual machines running as a Hyper-V virtual machine.

Hyper-V is a one-size-fits-all solution In addition to the Windows Server Hyper-V role, there is also a free edition called Hyper-V Server. Hyper-V is also bundled with some editions of desktop Windows operating systems such as Windows 10 Pro.

Hyper-V on Windows 10 Q&A Yes, Hyper-V is free on 64-bit versions of Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise and Education. However it is not available in the home version of Windows 10. When running virtualized operating systems, Hyper-V supports multiple versions of Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and more.

Cost

Windows Server 2012, and 2012 R2 End of Extended support is approaching per the Lifecycle Policy: Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 Extended Support will end on October 10, 2023. Customers running these releases of Windows Server on-premises will have the option to purchase Extended Security Updates.

Windows Server 2012 R2 is configured, like Server 2012, via Server Manager. It’s a modern-style desktop application that gives you an overview of running services from its dashboard, as well as launching the familiar Windows Server management tools and handling role and feature installation.

Hyper-V Server was released as a standalone product in 2008 and has been available free of charge ever since.

1) Open the Run utility by holding Windows and R keys, and then type control and hit OK to open the Control Panel window. 2) In the next window, click Programs and Features. 3) Click Turn Windows features on or off feature in the left pane, and then find and expand Hyper-V in the prompted window. 4) Wait for some time. You will receive the window below.

To enable Hyper-V on a desktop version of Windows, follow these steps: Open the Control Panel. Choose Programs and Features. Click Turn Windows Features On or Off. Select the Hyper-V feature and click OK. When prompted, restart the computer.

By default, Hyper-V is not installed in Windows and in order to use it, must be installed via the Windows Features control panel. To open this control panel, click on the Start Menu and type hyper-v into the search field. Click on the Turn Windows features on or off result and the Windows Features control panel will open.

The basic advantages and disadvantages of Hyper-V are the same as other virtualization environments. Server virtualization allows your client to run multiple servers on one physical computer, which translates into more efficient use of resources.