Microsoft has launched an effort to produce a version of Windows for high-performance computing, a move seen as a direct attack on a Linux stronghold.
High-performance computing once required massive, expensive, exotic machines from companies such as Cray, but the field is being remade by the arrival of clusters of low-end machines. While the trend could be considered an opportunity for Microsoft, which has long been the leading operating-system company, Linux has actually become the favored software used on these clusters.
Now Microsoft has begun its response, forming its High Performance Computing team and planning a new OS version called Windows Server HPC Edition. Kyril Faenov is director of the effort, and Microsoft is hiring new managers, programmers, testers and others. The Redmond, Wash.-based software colossus has its work cut out in the market--and knows it. "Winning in this important space against entrenched Linux/open-source software competition requires creativity, innovation, speed of execution, and deep engagements with hardware, software and academic partners," reads a job posting for a program manager responsible for setting up the team's academic partnerships.
News source: C|Net News.com
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