* Microsoft adds Linux support to Virtual Server 2005
For Linux diehards, what could be sweeter than the image of a pie in Bill’s eye? (See link below for a photo.) Maybe the statements of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, speaking at the Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas last week: “We will add support for non-Windows virtual machines running on our Virtual Server, including Linux.”
As reported by Network World Senior Editor John Fontana last week, this announcement means that Microsoft is, for the first time, adding Linux support to one of its product lines. In this case, it’s Microsoft Virtual Server 2005, a software platform that allows separate, virtual Windows machines to run on a single physical server hardware box.
Ballmer said the move was to expand the support of Microsoft’s virtualization technology to encompass other operating systems. Support will be added in a software update due out later this year.
As industry observers point out, the move is actually an inevitable one, as Windows Virtual Server is already way behind its top competitor, EMC’s VMWare, which has allowed for virtualized Windows and Linux to be server roommates for the past several years.
Although the Virtual Server strategy could be seen as a conciliatory move towards greater Win/Lin cooperation, don’t count on it. It’s still clear where Microsoft stands on Linux, with its strong PR campaign (http://www.getthefacts.com) to poke holes in the open source operating system’s value proposition in enterprises.
However, Windows and Linux are clearing going to have to live together for a while. A recent survey by the Yankee Group found that 50% of enterprise data center managers said they plan to deploy a mixed Windows/Linux environment over the next year.
It remains to be seen whether the first Linux-compatible Microsoft product is a sign of things to come, or just a conciliatory token to appeal to a subset of Microsoft users who want to run Linux on Windows boxes.
