Virtualization on the Mac
The news is VMWare is producing a competitor to Parallels called Fusion, enabling Windows and other platforms on the Mac. According to reports, the private beta site describes the product: “Fusion is the codename for a new VMware desktop product for Mac that will enable Intel-based Macs to run x86 operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris, in virtual machines at the same time as Mac OS X. It is built on VMware’s robust and advanced desktop virtualization platform that is used by over four million users today.”
More than a convenience to individuals, virtualization can be about making optimal use of the horsepower available in modern computers, and especially in Macs. This helps Macs be one of the most flexible, powerful platforms on earth, materially improves their prospective value to enterprises.
When an organization installs thousands of systems for its team members to use M-F, what else can those systems be used for? At night and on the weekends those systems largely lie dormant. With virtualization it’s often more efficient to use those systems for other purposes, to help achieve other organizational goals, for example, working together as a loosely knit cluster to solve complex problems.
It’s support like this, with Fusion, that may make the Mac a universally recognized leader in enterprise computing.
This thought inspired by Laurie A. Duncan’s http://www.tuaw.com/2006/11/03/vmwares-fusion-begins-private-beta
