When Citrix purchased XenSource last month, the Citrix brass were quick to make clear that they would use the virtualization technology to strengthen ties with Microsoft, not to do head-to-head battle with Redmond. Yesterday, the first bits of news began to trickle on how this partnership will unfold. Eager to steal some thunder from VMware at its own VMworld conference, going on in San Francisco this week, Citrix and Microsoft made an interesting announcement.
From the press release, the two said that they are …
“standardizing on the Microsoft Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format as a common runtime environment for both virtualized operating systems and applications. This collaboration will result in future versions of Citrix’s Desktop Server and virtual application solutions adopting the Microsoft VHD format. At the same time, Microsoft plans to adapt a future version of Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization for both the desktop and Terminal Services to the VHD format. Microsoft and Citrix will also collaborate on emerging virtualization technologies and virtual infrastructure management tools to help ensure interoperability and simplified administration for end users.”
What does this mean for SoftGrid users and for Microsoft’s ability to compete with VMware?
See also Microsoft vs. VMware: An analysis of the free offerings from both companies
