VMware brings virtualization to the Mac desktop

Here at FierceEnterprise, we often talk about server virtualization and the benefits that it can bring to the enterprise. With last week's Microsoft/Novell announcement, virtualization in the data center again took center stage as one of the areas where IT departments will soon reap increased benefits. For all of the excitement surrounding virtualization in the data center, however, there's another virtualization frontier that is often overlooked: virtualization on the desktop.

Ever since the transition to x86 Intel processors, Macs have become one of the hottest platforms for virtualization enthusiasts. It wasn't very long after the first Intel-based iMacs hit the market that hackers managed to (illegally) load Windows XP and Linux on their machines. Soon afterward, Apple released a Beta of Boot Camp, their officially-supported app for installing Windows on a separate partition of your OS X drive.

The holy grail, however, was the ability to run a separate OS from within OS X in an application window. Parallels Desktop was the first official software to bring this functionality to Intel Macs and it became a huge hit with Mac fans and journalists alike. Now VMware has launched a Beta of Fusion, a competing application. Fusion boasts a number of neat features, like the ability to run Windows as an isolated virtual machine (thereby avoiding the risk for viruses) and drag and drop functionality for files between Windows and OS X.

This software could dramatically reduce costs for enterprises that either have to or prefer to deploy Macs, as well as PCs. Consider a company's graphic design department: they can now use one machine for all of their processes instead of having to use a Mac for design and a PC for other, Windows-only apps. Web designers can also use one machine for all of their cross-browser testing (with a little elbow grease, Macs can triple-boot OS X, Windows and Linux). And a mobile user who prefers to use a Mac can now carry a MacBook for all of his or her computing needs. While Macs might still be a niche market in the enterprise sector, this kind of virtualization technology could soon boost the bottom line in IT departments everywhere--regardless of your choice of platform.

For more on VMware's Fusion:
- see this article on Ars Technica

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