How Virtualization Led Microsoft to Support Linux

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Why did Microsoft make the surprise announcement that it would support business customers who also use Linux? Because of the increasing importance of virtualization, Lee Gomes writes in the Wall Street Journal. 'Once businesses start using virtualization to cut back on the number of machines they need to buy, "a light bulb goes on over their head," says Tony Iams, who follows the field for Ideas International, an analyst group,' Gomes writes. 'Other uses become apparent, such as backing up data or easily adding processor power to a particular application as the need arises.' VMware pioneered the market, but now Microsoft is 'expected to offer sophisticated virtualization products in the next year or two,' Gomes writes. 'The company currently has a fairly rudimentary product, which was involved in its big Linux announcement earlier this month.'"

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Copycats

[thegattaca]

We swear! It has nothing to do with Boot Camp or VMWare!

Vaporware

[Nom du Keyboard]

Microsoft is 'expected to offer sophisticated virtualization products in the next year or two,'

It's all vaporware. Vaporware until it actually ships -- if ever.

And in Microsoft's case, it's vaporware until version 3.0 at least.

Or until they buy a company that already knows how to do it properly.

Re:Wow!

[dreddnott]

It's a heuristic /. post generator! Nearly fooled me, too. It could pass the Turing Test for unprecedented realism in slashdotter emulation.

Oh, crap.

[mark-t]

I had a bet with a guy I knew that this would not happen before Microsoft started becoming less popular and was bought out by some other company.