Welcoming Hyper-V to the market

http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKN2630634220080626 

BOSTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it started selling its new server virtualization software about six weeks ahead of schedule, putting pressure on market leader VMware Inc.

Server virtualization software allows one machine to perform the work of multiple servers, letting companies save money on equipment, electricity, maintenance and other costs.

Microsoft says it charges $28 per server for its software, dubbed Hyper-V, which was put up on its website for download on Thursday. The company previously said it would make the product available in August.

VMware said it charges $495 for the most comparable software in its product line, which is known as ESXi.

I’m genuinely excited about Hyper-V, it does look very cool. Oh there will be those that have an alternative view, but let’s abstract ourselves from any emotional statements and welcome another vendor into the virtualization market, recognize the value of another viewpoint, another solution for the end user, and the furthering of the business processes, the technology and the platform. That one product has functionality over the other, that one product is more innovative than the other (regardless of your personal viewpoint), can only encourage further investment, innovation and integration of the platform which has to be a good thing. Understanding that there might not be one virtualization platform for an organization, for a business line, that we might use one platform for one project, one use, and another platform for another, that what matters is the functionality, the benefit for the end user, everything else is just noise.