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Muglia Promises Low Price for Virtual Server 2005

LAS VEGAS -- While Microsoft isn't saying how much it will charge for Virtual Server 2005, the company is promising the price will be low.

Virtualization products allow a single system to run several operating systems at once without resource conflicts. Microsoft acquired its virtualization technology a year ago from Connectix Corp. and is working to release Virtual Server, which Connectix had not yet gotten to market. Microsoft positions the technology as a way for customers to create standard images that can be tested in virtual environments and for running older applications on new hardware.

"Virtual Server will be the lowest cost way of doing this in the industry," said Bob Muglia, senior vice president for Microsoft's Windows Server Division. "We haven't announced prices yet."

The main company in virtualization is VMWare, which was recently bought by storage giant EMC Corp. Microsoft created a precedent for undercutting VMWare's prices last year with its first Microsoft-branded release of Connectix' Virtual PC. The Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 release in November came out at $129 compared with VMWare Workstation 4's packaged price of $329.

Microsoft's offerings, however, are widely seen as solutions aimed primarily at Microsoft shops, while VMWare's desktop and server virtualization offerings are far friendlier to cross-platform deployments.

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

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