Microsoft Is The Virtualization Turtle To VMware's Hare
The number one thing you hear about Microsoft is that they're too late to the dance in virtualization, said Mark Crall, president of Charlotte Tech Care Team, a Microsoft Small Business Specialist in Charlotte, N.C. that partners with both companies.
"It's true that VMware has a head start, but the reality is that Microsoft has the R&D and internal resources and marketing engine to get up to speed extremely quickly. Combine that with their ability to lowball, and I think they'll be a force," Crall said.
Chris Ward, senior solutions architect at GreenPages Technology Solutions, Kittery, Me., believes the key to the success of Microsoft's virtualization strategy rides on MinWin, the slimmed down version of the Windows core that will serve as a framework for building all future Windows based offerings.
"The problem with Hyper-V is that it's not truly 'bare metal.' It's still running Windows Server 2008, albeit maybe a slightly less bloated version with Server Core," said Ward. "If MinWin becomes a reality and allows Microsoft to completely modularize the Windows OS, then VMWare, Citrix, and Virtual Iron had better watch out."
