VMware Introduces Workstation 4.5

VMware Inc. has announced the availability of VMware Workstation 4.5, its latest desktop virtual machine software. VMware Workstation 4.5 allows developers and system administrators to develop, test and deploy enterprise applications and patches without having to commit to changes or monopolize hardware assets. Through VMware's virtual machines, each desktop can run instances of Windows, Linux or Novell Netware once the virtual machines are deployed to a VMWare server.

New features that make up the release include support for the latest operating systems, better support for host USB devices, integration with Windows Performance Monitor, increased memory capacity and support for PXE (pre-boot execution environment) provisioning. With the update, Windows "Longhorn" guest clients are now supported as well as clients running version 2.6 of the Linux kernel.

Competitors such as Microsoft have pitched their product in a slightly different light. After acquiring Virtual PC from Connectix last year, Microsoft released Virtual PC 2004 in November of 2003. Microsoft bills Virtual PC as the right medicine to ease the pains of migrating to Windows XP. Virtual PC consolidates Windows operating system on a single desktop machine; preserving access to critical legacy applications.

Sun Microsystems has rolled out its own implementation of a 'virtual server' through building N1 Grid containers into Solaris 10. Sun permits a single system to be divided up into 4000 separate partitions powered by only one copy of Solaris. This design element is intended to reduce licensing costs versus traditional virtual machines.

Although it faces substantial competition, VMware remains confident of its status as the top vendor of virtual infrastructure software. "Shipping for more than five years, VMware Workstation is the most flexible and widely deployed virtualization product on the market. With today's launch of Workstation 4.5, VMware continues to innovate, offering powerful new features for both developers and enterprise IT departments," said Michael Mullany, vice president of marketing at VMware.

VMware Workstation 4.5 is immediately available for a price of US $189. Existing 4.x customers can download this update at no additional cost. Microsoft's Virtual PC 2004 costs US $129, but has no guaranteed support for Linux.