We seem to be flailing around rather wildly on this thread, especially with all of the traffic today. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when I try to distill the thread down to its core components, what I basically see is:
1. Someone asked about whether a free Hyper-V Standalone 2022 server would be a thing.
2. The only Microsoft person in the thread, @EldenChristensen , pointed the OP at Azure Stack HCI as the answer to that question, which implies that ASHCI is replacing Hyper-V Standalone.
3. Lots of people - myself included - posted reasons we didn't like that.
4. Microsoft (Elden) basically said, "If ASHCI doesn't work for you, we'd like feedback on how to make it better."
5. Lots of people replied, but our replies have boiled down to, "ASHCI doesn't work for us because it isn't free!"
6. Microsoft hasn't responded to that. In my opinion, that is because they've already chosen how to proceed, and are trying to get us to move there as well.
In this thread here has been lots of discussion about aspects of hypervisors, and reasons we all need or want the legacy Hyper-V Standalone product, but what it seems to boil down to is this:
The reason we all like Hyper-V Standalone is because it is free. Period.
The reason Microsoft is moving to ASHCI is because Hyper-V Standalone was free. Period.
I do not work for Microsoft, but if you look back on Microsoft's responses in this thread, they have done everything by way of explaining aspects of ASHCI, pointing people to resources about ASHCI, and answering questions about it. But at no time has Microsoft said, or implied that, as a result of this thread, they're going to "bring back" (or "bring forward"), Hyper-V Standalone server.
To me, at least, that says that they're not going to. It's dead. Period.
As an aside, I was intrigued by the reference to the Partner Program in this thread. I'm sure many of us in this thread are members of that program too, just as we are users of Hyper-V. I hadn't yet heard about the changes to the program, but it turns out that Microsoft is massively reworking it. The end result of that rework is that far fewer companies will be able to qualify to be what they are now calling "Solutions Partners" - and it will be far more difficult to keep that qualification. In essence, right now there are hundreds of thousands of "Microsoft Partners" who - like me - qualify simply because it was easy to do so. We could sell stuff, or we could certify. We didn't have to do all of it. Under the new program, we have to do a lot, and a lot more than we used to. So, like most of those smaller partners, I'm going to lose my status when the new program takes effect.
Why, you might ask, is Microsoft doing this? Only they can answer, but I think part of the reason is that the current partner program is watered-down: Microsoft spends a lot of time/money/energy on hundreds of thousands of little partners that do not make Microsoft any real money. So, Microsoft has chosen to change things: Now, there will be far fewer qualified partners, but they will get better attention and better benefits.
To me, the same holds true for Hyper-V server. Tons of people use it. Using it, they have expectations surrounding it. Meeting those expectations costs Microsoft money. But the reality here is: It is not *making* any money. We can all say things like, "Oh, well, Hyper-V led me to Microsoft, and led my customers there as well!" but I suspect that all of the "us"'es together with our customers still don't cost-justify Microsoft releasing and having to deal with a Hyper-V Standalone server going forward.
Microsoft and other companies change things all the time - heck, I'm still grumpy that Samsung dropped MicroSD card support from their Galaxy S line! It makes no sense to me: They *make* microSD cards! But it clearly makes sense to them, and no amount of complaining is going to change it.
So, what's my point? My point is: Microsoft is trying to answer the questions here, but if you read back through the thread (although some posts have been clearly moderated away), it is clear that Microsoft has killed Hyper-V Standalone server. They'll listen to feedback, improve ASHCI where they can, and do their best, but they've decided that Hyper-V Standalone isn't cost-justified, and I can't say that I blame them. But whether I can or not, Hyper-V Standalone is not coming back, any more than Gold Partnership is coming back. It's dead. It's done.
If I had one complaint, or suggestion, for you @EldenChristensen and Microsoft, it would be this:
Just say that. Clearly. Here. On this thread. Tell us: "Hyper-V Standalone is gone, and it's not coming back." I can't speak for Microsoft, and I know people here won't like it, but we're flailing around because some of us think we can somehow "convince" Microsoft to give us our free product back again. But I'm guessing that's not going to happen, is it? Some confirmation would be helpful in bringing us closure.
As for "What to do now," to me it's pretty simple: For myself, I will use Hyper-V under Windows 11 to run my Windows (and other) servers in my own home and labs, just as I do now. Windows 11 is not free, but it's pretty cheap, and it's a buy-one-and-done, and I can run Windows servers under Hyper-V under Windows 11. What's retail for that? $250? Most of us get it for free on our existing computers.
It was fun having an actual "server" with servers on it - I enjoyed Hyper-V Standalone too - but those days are gone. If I still want an actual headless server instead of a server running Windows 11 as the host, I could always go to what I use at my dayjob: XCP-NG works really well, Windows servers run happily on it, and you can migrate and do all the other stuff you're used to doing on Hyper-V Standalone. And XCP-NG and it's control plane "Xen Orchestra" are all free and open-source, forever.
The older I get the harder it is to change... but the older I get the harder it is to get upset about change. None of us in this thread like it, but Microsoft is doing what they perceive to be best for Microsoft and their shareholders (of which, I'd guess, most of us are also one!). They're not a monument to justice. They're a corporation. They will survive, and we will survive, and even though things are bumpy I hope they will get better.
Meanwhile all we can do is make our own business decisions. For me and my team, despite Hyper-V Standalone going away, despite the Partner Program going away (or going much farther out of reach), we've determined that we're going to roll with it, and do the best we can with the cards we're dealt.
Which, really, is all any of us can do.
By all means - if I'm wrong, I hope Microsoft will correct me here. I hope they'll bring forward Hyper-V Standalone. I hope they'll keep letting me be a Partner. But I'm not basing my actions on it, because Microsoft is big, and we are (comparatively) small, and that's just the way it is.
Good luck to us all as things move forward. Consider Win11 Hyper-V if you can, or XCP-NG if you can't.
