Hyper-V UI updates for High DPI

In the latest Windows Insider builds (14371 and later) we have made some strategic changes to address Hyper-V’s usability on High DPI systems.  But before I get into the details of the changes – one quick thing to talk about:

Hyper-V UI is comprised of two main executables.  Our MMC snap-in (that runs under mmc.exe) and the Virtual Machine Connection (vmconnect.exe).  MMC globally does not support High DPI – so there is little we can do there.  But we can make the Virtual Machine Connection experience better.

Here we have done three things:

  1. We have made Virtual Machine Connection completely DPI aware – so there are no clipped graphics or strings at any DPI setting.
  2. We have worked with the art department to get new icons for all of Hyper-V – all of which are available at all DPI points:
    image
    Side note – this now means that as you scale up your DPI the icons will change and become more detailed.
  3. Finally, we have made an important – but subtle – change the the way we display the virtual machine.  If you connect to a virtual machine using enhanced mode – it gets all the DPI information from the host, and does the right thing.  However, if you are using basic mode – the guest OS is unaware of the host DPI.  To address this we will now automatically scale the virtual machine screen display to match the host DPI – but only if you are using basic mode.  What this all means is that you should no longer have to deal with teeny-tiny boot screens or text screens when using Virtual Machine Connection.

Cheers,
Ben