Microsoft this week started beta testing its Virtual Server, a program that enables a single server to run multiple operating systems.
The software was in development when Microsoft acquired it--along with the Virtual PC for Mac and Windows programs--from Connectix early last year. Microsoft shipped its own updated version of Virtual PC in November. The company plans a final release of Virtual Server, which it will call Virtual Server 2004, midyear. The product will be sold through Microsoft's usual channels, such as computer makers and retailers, as well as directly and through volume licensing. Pricing for the product has not been announced.
Virtual Server is not at all programmed to handle the many tasks for which one might use such virtual-machine software, said Eric Berg, a general manager in Microsoft's Windows Server unit. Rather, Microsoft is looking at Virtual Server as a means to get some customers to consolidate older servers that are running Windows 2000, Windows NT 4 and other older versions of Windows. Berg said Virtual Server can enable companies to keep running custom programs that are designed for the older operating systems, while the businesses work to switch to a different program or migrate the software to run natively on a newer server OS, for example.
News source: C|Net News.com
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