In virtualization race, Microsoft unbundles in bid to catch up

The newly dubbed Hyper-V Server can be licensed with or without Windows Server 2008 when they ship next year.Microsoft’s virtualization technology, long planned to be an integrated part of Windows Server 2008, will now be available as a standalone product as well. Is Microsoft bowing to customer needs, reacting to market pressures, or reading the regulation tea leaves? Some of each.
The software company revealed last week it will offer its hypervisor–code-named Viridian, and newly dubbed Hyper-V Server–as a standalone server. The list price: 28 bucks. That’s not free like Citrix Systems’ XenExpress, but discounts can be expected as OEMs bundle Hyper-V Server into their products. Dell, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Lenovo are among the computer makers with plans to distribute it.