Virtual infrastructure software firm VMware has
announced a product that will allow Intel-based Macs to run x86
operating systems, such as Windows or Linux in virtual machines at
the same time as Mac OS X.
Businesses are increasingly adopting virtualised systems, which
allow IT resources to be pooled and optimised across servers,
making more efficient use of hardware.
Research released last month found that three out of four
businesses either used server virtualisation or planned to deploy
it over the next year.
The new VMware desktop platform product, to be showcased at this
week’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, had
been produced in response to “unbelievable” levels of demand from
Mac users, VMware president Diane Greene said.
It has been designed to allow Mac users to run a variety of
operating systems on their machines without rebooting, while Mac
users who also use PCs would be able to consolidate systems onto
the Mac.
In future, virtual machines created with any VMware products
would run on Intel-based Macs while, non-Mac OS X virtual machines
created with the new product would run on the latest versions of
other VMware platforms, the company said.
A beta release of the as yet unamed new product is set to be
made available later this year.
Vote for your IT greats
Who have been the most influential people in IT in the past 40
years? The greatest organisations? The best hardware and software
technologies? As part of Computer Weekly’s 40th anniversary
celebrations, we are asking our readers who and what has really
made a difference?
Vote now at:
www.computerweekly.com/ITgreats