virtualization technology

Though Microsoft's new Windows XP mode for Windows 7 is designed to enable users to run both operating systems on the same machine, some business and consumer users may be frustrated that they won't be able to take advantage of the option.

Dell Inc. is introducing new server and storage products aimed at cost-conscious companies, betting that its emphasis on value can help win market share as competition intensifies.

The announcement on Tuesday comes as the corporate server market heated up considerably over the past week, with the much-anticipated entry of network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc, and widely-reported merger talks between market leader IBM and high-end server maker Sun Microsystems Inc.

Parallels has unleashed the latest version of its desktop virtualization technology for the Mac, which already enables more than 1.5 million users to run Windows, Linux and other operating systems inside Mac OS X. Called Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac, the new platform is designed to perform computing tasks at speeds up to 50 percent faster than earlier versions.

Without much in the way of fanfare, Intel added three new multi-core processors to its product price list over the Labor Day weekend. The chipmaker's stealth launch of the new low-cost chips followed price cuts at rival Advanced Micro Devices, which recently lowered the cost of selected Phenom X4, triple-core X3, and Athelon X2 processors.

Microsoft has elected to jettison certain licensing restrictions that previously discouraged its customers from moving the software giant's server applications within a server farm at will.

Beginning next month, Microsoft says its customers will be able to move any of 41 server applications as often as necessary without paying additional licensing fees. The goal is to enable data center managers to more effectively employ virtualization technology as the means for creating more dynamic enterprise IT systems, the company said.

The Linux Mobile Foundation has announced that 11 new companies have joined the global consortium for the open-source mobile platform.

In particular, new LiMo member Movial said it intends to open-source its Browser D-Bus Bridge technology, which translates standard HTML and JavaScript commands to Desktop Bus commands to facilitate inter-process communication (IPC) between Web 2.0 applications and services.

Microsoft on Thursday released Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, its virtualization technology for Windows servers.

Nearly 1.5 million copies of the beta version of Hyper-V have been distributed. The technology is based on hypervisor, a virtualization platform that allows multiple operating systems to run simultaneously on a single host computer.

Efficient Data Centers