Microsoft Manager Says It Considered Banning Vista Virtualization
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In a story for the Associated Press this afternoon, one of the directors of Microsoft's Windows Client Product Planning team is quoted as saying that a Black Hat security conference demonstration last August scared Microsoft to the point where the company seriously considered removing virtualization capability from Vista entirely.
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VMware president questions wisdom of integrating virtualization functionality into operating systems.
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A bizarre episode in which Microsoft announced, then rescinded, plans to change EULA restrictions on how consumers can use Vista made for a strange Tuesday for observers, and an unhappy ending for users hoping to use the OS on virtual machines.
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Microsoft denied it has turned on an anti-piracy measure in Vista that would stop  unlicensed OEM copies of the operating system from running, but did not rule out using it in the future.
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Many enterprise IT managers are delaying for months any rollout of Microsoft Corp.&#39;s long-awaited and often-delayed Windows XP Service Pack 2, saying it is breaking too many of their applications.
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Microsoft has laid out plans to become a bigger force in the market for virtualization software, stepping up its assault on established leaders such as VMware.The plans announced Monday include the acquisition of a startup company, Calista Technologies, whose graphics technology is designed to improve the end-user experience for people who access their Windows desktop remotely from a server, Microsoft said.The company also loosened some of its licensing terms related to virtualization. Consumers who use the Home Basic and Home Premium editions of Windows Vista will now be able to run those OSes in a virtualized environment, Microsoft said. It also announced new licensing rates for corporate users.Finally, Microsoft extended its partnership with Citrix Systems to make that company&#39;s Xen virtualization software work better with Microsoft&#39;s server and desktop software, it said.Virtualization technologies separate the software on a computer from its underlying hardware, allowing it to be deployed in more flexible ways. Virtualization can allow multiple operating systems to run on one computer, for example, or allow application workloads to be shifted between computers more easily to improve hardware utilization.The technology has been around for decades but was popularized in server environments recently by VMware and others. More recently, Apple introduced virtualization for its Macintosh desktops so that users can run both the Mac OS and Windows on the same machine.Microsoft has not been a significant player in virtualization, but it hopes to change that with its announcements this week. It plans to discuss the changes at its Virtualization Deployment Summit, a two-day event for 300 of its customers and partners that starts Tuesday.It argued that the virtualization market remains open for newer players like itself.&#8220;Very few customers are able to reap the benefits of virtualization today,&#8221; Bob Muglia, senior vice present of Microsoft&#39;s Server and Tools Business, said in a statement. &#8220;We estimate that less than five percent of companies are utilizing virtualization technology because it is simply too cost-prohibitive and complex.&quot;Microsoft&#39;s strategy will be to offer a full range of virtualization products, including desktop, server and management software, and do so at a competitive price, Muglia said.Customers with the Home and Home Premium editions of Vista can now run them as a guest operating system on a virtual machine, the company said. Among other things, that should mean that Apple Mac users who want to run Vista alongside the Mac OS can now do so without having to buy a more expensive version of Windows.For businesses, customers who subscribe to Microsoft&#39;s Software Assurance maintenance program can now get an annual subscription to Microsoft&#39;s desktop virtualization software for $23 per desktop, the company said.Citrix is developing a software tool that will make it easier for customers to transfer virtual machines between Citrix XenServer and Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V. A test version of the tool will be available in the second quarter, and the final version will be released along with Hyper-V, Microsoft said.The technology from Calista aims to improve the experience for people who access their Windows desktops remotely from a server. It allows people to view multimedia content on a PC or thin client without the media player or software codecs they would normally need installed.Microsoft will add Calista&#39;s graphics technology to future virtualization products, it said. Calista, of San Jose, California, is now a Microsoft subsidiary.
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Microsoft said Wednesday that it plans to clamp down hard on piraters of its next-generation operating systems, crippling both Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn" if users fail to activate their copies within 30 days.
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Google Inc. is arguing that Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista violates a 2002 antitrust settlement because its indexing software is hard to turn off. But an expert says indexing can be disabled easily.
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In an online white paper published last Friday, VMware takes Microsoft to task for allegedly rigging the market for virtualization software to protect Windows. The paper's language and allegations recall to mind the dark days of 1996, when Microsoft was first challenged in court over its use of artificial roadblocks prohibiting Windows 3.0 and 3.1 from running in its competitor's DR DOS operating system.
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Virtualization looks tasty, but VMware is so scary -- let's shack up with another also-ran!
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CNET News.com's Charles Cooper says recent upset over Vista should put a rest to that lingering question.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer believes that sales forecasts for itsÂ new Vista operating systemÂ may be "overly aggressive." In a conference call Thursday with financial analysts Ballmer said lower selling prices, limited new corporate sales, and software piracy may combine to temper Vista sales forecasts. "I'm really excited about how enthusiastic everybody is about Vista," he said. "But people have to understand that some of the revenue forecasts I've seen out there for Windows Vista in fiscal year 2008 are overly aggressive." Microsoft's 2008 fiscal year begins this July 1. Ballmer did not provide specific sales numbers. Sales of Microsoft's Windows operating systems are driven by the growth in sales of personal computers (PCs), Ballmer explained. But PC sales growth tends to come more from the consumer market these days than the business market. Also, while Ballmer expects Vista to see greater sales growth in emerging markets such as in China, India, and Brazil, that growth will be on a smaller base than in developed countries. Also, those emerging markets are alsoÂ high-piracy markets. Even though Microsoft has added features to Vista to thwart piracy, it is still a problem in some countries, he said. And while Microsoft sold a lot of Vista upgrades to corporate customers, they have already been accounted for in previously signed contracts, so forecasts of additional corporate sales "may be a little more bullish" than is warranted, he said. Vista is the first totally new desktop operating system from Microsoft since the introduction of Windows XP in 2001. Vista has been much-delayed in coming to market as the company tried to avoid releasing a product with defects and security flaws that plagued previous Windows versions. Although Ballmer reported a strong early surge in Vista sales, which began for corporate customers in November 2006 and for consumers in late January, the surge may be limited to what's left of fiscal 2007 and "will not recur in fiscal year 2008."
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Executives from Symantec on Wednesday strongly criticized Microsoft for locking down access to the Windows kernel in the upcoming Vista, though they stopped short of accusing the company of an antitrust violation.
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(InfoWorld) - A pro-business think tank in Europe has recommended unbundling Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system from sales of new PCs in order to give customers more choice when buying a new computer. A report from the Globalisation Institute in Brussels urges the European Commission to require that PCs and operating systems be sold separately in Europe to break Microsoft's monopoly in the desktop OS market. "Microsoft's dominant position is not in the public interest. It limits the market and has slowed technical development to the prejudice of consumers," said the report . The report is gaining attention partly because the Globalisation Institute usually advocates a hands-off approach to business regulation. It researches and develops policy options that are sometimes championed by politicians. Its report comes one week afterÂ Europe's second-highest court turned down Microsoft's appeal of the European Commission's 2004 antitrust ruling against it, which fined MicrosoftÂ around $600 million for abusing its OS monopoly. That investigation focused on how Microsoft bundles its Media Player software with Windows, which the Commission said harmed competitors such as RealNetworks Inc. It also required Microsoft to publish communications protocols so that its rivals can make their server software work better with Windows clients. The Globalization Institute said the Commission should take its thinking about Microsoft's OS to its "logical conclusion" and force PC makers to unbundle Windows from PCs as well. The report does not mentionÂ recent moves by vendors such as Dell Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Co.Â in Australia, to offer Linux as an option with PCs sold online. Globalisation Institute President Alex Singleton called those offers "a token gesture." "The fact is, when you go into a computer shop, the majority of consumers are not faced with a choice. Just because on the margins you are offered something else, I don't think those choices mean there is real competition." In addition, the report argued, offering a choice of OS is not a practical option for retail stores, where floor space is limited. Therefore PCs should be sold separately from the OS. "We do not believe this would add complexity for consumers. Consumers would simply be asked to insert an operating system DVD when they first turn on a new computer, which would then automatically configure itself," the report says. Such competition exists in hardware, the report argues, with microprocessors and hard drives available from a choice of vendors. But when consumers walk into a store they generally have only one choice for an OS: Windows. "The result is that consumers who, given the choice, would opt for a cheaper operating system, find themselves automatically buying the market leader." The group sent its report to the office of the European Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes, Singleton said. Kroes led the Commission's antitrust case against Microsoft and has called the company's share of the desktop OS market "unacceptable." Microsoft representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report. Â
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(InfoWorld) - Two engineers at the computer security firm Symantec are coming to Brussels next week to discuss theÂ antitrust threatÂ posed to their company by the upcoming version of Microsoft's Windows, dubbed Vista, a Symantec spokesman said Thursday. Vice President for Consumer Engineering Rowan Trollope and a senior engineer in the technology strategy office, Bruce McCorkendale, will press their case to the European antitrust regulator, the European Commission. Vista is due to launch at the beginning of next year. The Commission hasÂ warned MicrosoftÂ about the possible impact on competition ofÂ Vista's built-in security software. The regulator fears that by including a sophisticated antivirus program into Vista, this could have a similar effect to the bundling of Media Player with Windows XP. Two and a half years ago the Commission ruled that the bundling of Media Player into Windows was anticompetitive and ordered Microsoft to launch a second version of Windows without Media Player. It alsoÂ fined the companyÂ nearly â¬500 million ($634 million). Meanwhile, Adobe Systems has told European Union regulators that Microsoft should be banned from bundling in free competing software for reading and writing electronic documents into Vista, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal Europe. The paper cites unnamed people familiar with the situation. Adobe's and Symantec's lobbying moves will come as no surprise to the Commission. Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes wrote to Microsoft in March expressing concern about Vista's impact on competition, and cited the computer security and document reader and writers sectors as examples of where Microsoft's bundling strategy might pose competition problems. However, earlier this week Kroes insisted she wasn't calling for Microsoft to launch Vista without any security system. "I have seen it suggested that the Commission may seek to prevent Microsoft from improving the security of its operating system. This is categorically not the case," she wrote in a letter to the Financial Times newspaper.ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
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InfoWorld - Microsoft officials deny that the&#160;Department of Transportation's recent moratorium&#160;on adoption of Windows Vista is indicative of any widespread reluctance in the government sector to install the new operating system.
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InfoWorld - The president of virtualization software leader VMware Wednesday questioned the strategy of rivals that are integrating virtualization functionality into their operating systems.