VMware makes bid for virtual desktops

By Manek Dubash, TechWorld, 06/12/07

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VMware has moved to strengthen its credentials in the desktop virtualization market today, with the release of two products. The company has launched VMware Player 2, which includes beefed-up support for modern hardware and is available free, and VMware Fusion for Mac - which isn't free, but does allow Windows applications to integrate with the Mac desktop.

VMware Player 2 allows you to run 32- and 64-bit applications and operating system environments distributed as a virtual appliance, using under either Windows or Linux as the host OS.

Virtual appliances are pre-built, pre-configured and ready-to-run software applications packaged along with an operating system in a virtual machine. You'll need paid-for software such as a copy of VMware Workstation or Server to create a virtual appliance, however. Alternatively, more than 460 virtual appliances are available for download from the VMware site.

New features in Player include:

-- Experimental support for two-way Virtual SMP, which allows multiple virtual machines to each use more than one CPU - useful for high-performance applications.

-- Expanded operating system support, including Windows Vista, although the Player won't run the Aero UI. It also supports over 60 32- and 64-bit guest and host OSes, according to VMware. They include NetWare, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, Solaris x86, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10, and Ubuntu.

-- New virtual appliance interface, which VMware calls a "home page" that streamlines access to virtual appliances by enabling users to browse its site for virtual appliances and their descriptions.

-- Simpler data sharing between virtual machines and the host using shared folders or by dragging and dropping files between the virtual and host machines.

"Virtual appliances are fundamentally changing the way software is packaged and distributed, enabling ISVs to develop self-contained and optimized application stacks for production and evaluation use," said VMware VP Dan Chu. "VMware Player is a key component of VMware's desktop vision, helping to provide end users with flexibility and security on their virtualized desktops."

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