Although VMware got its start with a desktop virtualization product aimed at developers, the company today is best known for bringing server virtualization to the mainstream.
Creating multiple virtual servers on a single physical system lets IT departments consolidate applications onto fewer computers and thereby cut costs. Over time, server virtualization has also enabled a variety of products and approaches that can simplify IT operations and generally make data centers more flexible.
VMware has continued to invest in virtualization aimed at the client. This includes client-side hypervisors such as its original VMware Workstation product. However, products and technologies associated with delivering applications and user desktops to the client are really the main focus.
Application and desktop delivery sometimes makes use of client hypervisors but it's a largely separate category of technology that's fundamentally about centrally managing user applications and/or operating-system images. In VMware's case, virtualized desktops fall under the VMware View name.
On Monday, VMware announced VMware View 4, the latest version of its virtual desktop portfolio.
Much of VMware's development focus with View 4 was in the area of the user experience--that is, making applications and desktops delivered from a central location perform with the same responsiveness and fidelity as if they were installed on a local PC, in the usual way.
Historically, this user experience has been one of the stumbling blocks for desktop virtualization in general. Older forms of Citrix Presentation Server (now rebadged and modernized under the XenApp label) and initial virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) implementations very much tried to simplify management and otherwise deliver direct benefits for IT operations. Whether users liked using the products was secondary.
As a result, desktop virtualization has been mostly something used by what are often called "task workers." Think call centers and other groups of users with specific jobs to do and not much say about the tools they use to do it. In general, desktop virtualization promoters have focused too much on delivering benefits to IT and not enough on delivering benefits to users. (They've also arguably paid too little attention to keeping up-front costs down and relied too much on promises of soft cost savings down the road.)
One of the technology pieces that VMware is leaning on to improve user experience is the PC over Internet Protocol (PCoIP). PCoIP was originally developed by Teradici to improve the responsiveness and display quality of virtual desktops. However, in Teradici's initial implementation, specialized hardware was needed on both ends of the wire. This effectively made it a premium solution for situations in which cost wasn't a factor, such as for financial traders and government agencies for which security considerations are paramount.
VMware has worked with Teradici to create a software-only version of the protocol. Desktop virtualization Chief Technology Officer Scott Davis goes into a lot of the details on his blog.
It's a User Datagram Protocol-based server-side protocol that transmits compressed bitmaps or frames to the remote client. This has the advantage of being able to make real-time adjustments to account for the available bandwidth and latency of the communications channel; the display quality degrades, if there isn't enough bandwidth but things still "work."
Although details differ, there are similarities to Sun's Appliance Link Protocol--which is well-regarded for its ability to deal with poor-quality connections. (A downside of server-side protocols is that they consume processing horsepower on the server, where it tends to be more expensive, rather than on the client.)
VMware will continue to support other remote display protocols, most notably Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol. However, VMware is clearly positioning PCoIP as its favored technology and a point of competitive differentiation for VMware View in general.
Also in the graphics area, View 4 adds "multimonitor, adaptive display support--resolution optimization for each monitor, with an option to pivot and rotate the display output, supporting rich audio and video content with increased performance."
Other user experience enhancements generally relate to better integration with the overall desktop environment. For example, View Printing automatically discovers local printers without the need to install print drivers. View Limited Access provides a single point of authentication across VMware View environments, Windows Terminal Servers, Blade PCs, and remote physical PCs.
VMware View 4 comes in two editions. The Enterprise Edition includes the basics: VSphere 4 (the back-end server virtualization product), VCenter 4 (management), and View Manager 4 (for provisioning user access). It's priced at $150 per concurrent connection.
The $250-per-concurrent-user Premier Edition adds ThinApp 4 (for delivering ad hoc applications that aren't part of a master image) and View Composer (for managing images), both capabilities that would typically be desired in a large or sophisticated deployment.
VMware as a whole approaches the world from the perspective of the enterprise data center. Delivering desktops from that data center was somewhat of a sideshow. Is it now as focused on application delivery as, say, Citrix? Not really. But that said, desktop virtualization has moved beyond the sideshow stage at VMware.
Parallels on Wednesday released Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac, a new version of its virtualization software that allows Intel-based Macs to run Windows and Linux alongside Mac OS X.
According to Parallels, the new version of its software is up to 300 percent faster than the previous version, Parallels Desktop 4. The company also hired Crimson Consulting Group to do performance testing on Parallels 5 and said it was 22 percent faster than its nearest virtualization competitor when running Windows 7 64-bit on a MacBook Pro.
While the competitor wasn't named by Parallels, it is widely thought the virtualization market is ruled by Parallels and VMWare's Fusion for Mac.
Speaking with CNET, Parallels CEO Serguei Beloussov said company had three main goals when making Parallels 5 for Mac: make it faster; make it smarter and easier; and make it more powerful.
Beloussov said the company achieved those goals by adding support for gestures, supporting a broader range of 3D features, and optimizing Parallels to handle virtual hardware and drivers more efficiently.
Parallels 5 also adds a new viewing mode called Crystal, which is similar to Coherence, where Windows completely disappears from your desktop. However, Crystal adds the Windows taskbar items on the top of the Mac OS X menu, allowing easy access.
Apple also offers a way to run Windows on an Intel-based Mac. It's called Boot Camp, but it requires the user restart the computer and run Windows separately from the Mac OS. While that may be inconvenient for many users, the native speed of running on the hardware was always seen as a major advantage. Parallels says they can now beat that.
"Parallels is faster than Boot Camp," Beloussov said. "Most slow downs with Windows is not because of computational problems, it's handling drivers. We offer optimized virtualized hardware and drivers, making it faster."
Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac is available for $79.99 or $49.99 for an upgrade.
Want to run Windows side-by-side with Mac OS X on your Intel Mac? VMware Fusion just released a major update putting the software at version 3.0 and there's a lot of fixes and changes that make it worthy of checking out.
Those who have used VMware Fusion in the past know that it has had its share of hiccups with earlier versions, but most seem to have been ironed out in the latest release. Along with fixes, version 3.0 includes a performance boost making the overall experience more snappy and up to twice as fast when resuming from a suspended virtual machine. They also optimized it for Snow Leopard, utilizing the new operating system's advanced architecture with a 64-bit core engine and native support for the 64-bit kernel. The latest version also supports high-end 3D graphics using OpenGL 2.1 and DirectX 9.0c Shader Model 3, enabling gamers to play the latest Windows games on their Mac.
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Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
Probably the best thing about the latest VMware Fusion is the ability to share content in your Windows environment with what you already have on your Mac. This means that you can pull in images, music, and documents from folders in the Mac Finder into your Windows environment. Even better, you can open Windows files from the Mac Finder and have them boot up in Windows on VMware Fusion automatically. Another avenue of access is the always-on Applications menu found in the Mac Menubar that lets you start up Windows apps in VMware Fusion even when the program isn't running.
Launch Windows apps directly from the Mac Menubar
(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)In our testing we loaded up Windows 7 on VMware Fusion and most everything worked as advertised. We found some graphics issues like strange graphical artifacts showing up onscreen in certain cases. But overall, we were able to run Windows 7 fairly smoothly and use many of the new features without incident. Overall, with the addition of more features to make switching between the two operating systems less of a hassle and the affordable price tag of $79.99, Mac users who need a Windows environment will appreciate everything VMware fusion has to offer.
I tried reinstalling VMware Tools, but nothing worked. Nothing, that is, until I tried this handy tip I found on Dave Taylor's Web site. The problem is in a VMware configuration file. Let me show you how to find and modify it to make your Ethernet work.
Shut down the virtual machine. Even if it's suspended, I recommend firing it up and shutting it all the way down.
Now you need to find the virtual image of Windows 7.
It's likely in Documents, in a folder called Virtual Machines.
The image for your Windows 7 is likely called something like Windows 7.
Whatever your image is called, if you're sure it's the right one, control or right click and choose "Show package contents."
Now find the file that ends in .vmx.
Right or control click on that file and choose "Open with." Then choose Text Edit, or whichever text editor you prefer.
Once the file opens in your editor, scroll down until you find these four lines that start ethernet0.
You're going to add a fifth line.
Type ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"
Now save that file and close it.
Go restart the virtual machine.
You should now have the ability to surf the Internet.
Imagine allowing anyone to use your PC without supervision: your children, nephews and nieces, spouse's second cousin, or even your babysitter's boyfriend.
That's the promise of virtualization software such as the $25 Returnil Virtual System. The program creates a virtual PC for you or anyone else to operate in that's sealed off from your system files and personal data. I tried the beta of Returnil Virtual System 2010, which includes the Virtual Guard on-demand malware scanner.
Returnil is another security layer on top of your hardware and software firewall, real-time malware detector, and other security programs. Once enabled, no permanent changes will be made to your hard drive, except to the files and folders you specify beforehand.
The program's installation routine offers to perform a malware scan prior to loading the program onto your hard drive. The option to send to the company anonymous information about the malware it detects is selected by default, but you can choose to be prompted before any information is sent or to prevent any information from being collected or transmitted to the company.
The beta of Returnil Virtual System 2010 offers to perform a malware scan prior to installing.
(Credit: Returnil)After the installation completes, a toolbar is added to the desktop and an icon is placed in the notification area. Right-click the icon to hide the toolbar or the icon, enable or exit the program, or check for updates. Double-click the icon to open the main Returnil window. Here you can access the Virtual Guard antivirus scanner, System Safe virtual environment, and the program's other features.
The main Returnil window lets you access the program's security tools.
(Credit: Returnil)After you register the beta—or the trial version of Returnil Virtual System 2008--you can specify files and folders that you can change while operating in a virtual environment. Otherwise, any changes you attempt to make to your hard drive while Returnil is enabled will disappear when you restart Windows. This includes the files you open, programs you use, Web sites you visit, and any other activity that would normally place or change data on your drive.
By default, Returnil uses half the available space on your hard drive to create its virtual environment. You can change this setting by clicking System Safe in the main Returnil window, choosing the advanced settings link, and selecting the System Safe tab. Use the slider control to reset the percentage of free hard-disk space allotted for the virtual environment, and click OK.
Change the percentage of free hard-disk space available for Returnil's virtual environment via the program's advanced settings.
(Credit: Returnil)Other options let you password-protect the program, wipe all disk changes whenever you shut down Windows, enable protection when Windows starts, and assign a keyboard combination to open the program. I noticed a slight degradation in performance when Returnil's System Safe is enabled, but the slowdown was barely discernable on my 64-bit Windows Vista PC with 4GB of RAM and nearly 100GB of unused hard-drive space.
I experienced no problems using the beta, which is a 7.5MB download. Whether or not the addition of a malware scanner improves your PC's overall security, there's comfort in knowing that anyone—yourself included—can do just about anything on your PC without lasting effect. That's the peace of mind a virtual environment such as Returnil provides, and for little cost and only a modest performance hit.
Microsoft has announced that XP Mode, the Windows 7 add-on that will allow users with the proper hardware to run a virtual version of Windows XP within Windows 7, has entered Release Candidate status.
There are several new features in XP Mode RC. XP Mode programs will now offer users a jumplist of most recently opened files with that program. This brings one of Windows 7's more useful productivity features into play with older programs that wouldn't otherwise have it. So, not only will you be able to directly start your most recently used XP Mode programs from the Windows 7 taskbar, but you'll be able to launch specific files from the Windows 7 taskbar, too. You can now use USB devices in XP Mode without having to make it full-screen, directly from the Windows 7 taskbar.
Drive sharing between XP Mode and Windows 7 can be disabled, and a new tutorial has been created on how to use XP Mode that users will first get access to from the XP Mode installation screen. In the XP Mode beta, users couldn't customize where to store differencing disk files. These relate to the virtualization aspects of running XP in Windows 7.
Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc recommends in the blog post announcing the XP Mode RC that users install antivirus and anti-malware protections in XP Mode in addition to whatever protective steps users have taken in the native Windows 7 environment. He also cautions that XP Mode is designed for running productivity applications that won't be upgraded to Windows 7, implying that Microsoft doesn't expect the average consumer to get much mileage out of the feature.
Users who are still interested in testing out the Windows 7 RC can still do so through August.
Old dogs may struggle with new tricks, but they seem to be able to figure out new licenses.
In a shocking move, Microsoft announced Monday the release of Hyper-V Linux Integration Components (LinuxIC).
The news reflects Microsoft's continued interest in lobotomizing its virtualization competition through low prices, but also the recognition that it must open up if it wants to fend off insurgent virtualization strategies from Red Hat, Novell, and others in the open-source camp.
But the truly startling news is that LinuxIC is being released under the GNU General Public License (version 2). Microsoft once called GPL anti-American. Now it calls it friend.
The gods must be crazy.
Or maybe Microsoft is simply recognizing (finally!) that GPL can be a capitalist's close ally. That and the fact that many components within the Linux kernel are GPLv2-licensed make the move completely natural...at least, once you forget that this is Microsoft embracing GPL, rather than some other company like Red Hat.
LinuxIC is a collection of kernel drivers that enable Linux to recognize that it is running on Microsoft's Hyper-V and optimize accordingly, resulting in an "enlightened version of Linux," according to market researcher IDC. The device drivers have yet to be accepted into the Linux kernel, but the GPL license and general utility makes their inclusion probable.
The move opens up Hyper-V to much more than Windows, which has arguably been its weakest point. As IDC notes, this embrace of Linux is a "key element if Microsoft is going to successfully go head to head with VMware in large accounts--many of which already are dedicated VMware customers."
Importantly, Microsoft is now opening up even beyond its long-time Linux partner, Novell, to embrace an array of other Linux partners, including Red Hat. While Novell was the first Linux vendor to certify for Hyper-V, Microsoft's lack of real support beyond Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise Server was a weakness, as some have complained.
But this is arguably a new Microsoft. Redmond recently announced that Office 2010 will support Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox. The company is learning that its customers run heterogeneous software environments, and it's (slowly) responding. Microsoft's Sam Ramji, senior director of Platform Strategy, notes: "We are seeing Microsoft communities and open source communities grow together, which is ultimately of benefit to our customers."
Microsoft, in short, can't ignore open source, including Linux, without ignoring its own customers.
But surely this move is more Machiavelli than Santa Claus? Maybe, maybe not. I asked Novell's Greg Kroah-Hartman, a prominent Linux kernel developer who was deeply involved in influencing Microsoft to release LinuxIC, what Microsoft's move means for Linux. His response reflects an enthusiasm that is as surprising as it is refreshing:
We want Linux to work well for everybody. This move is not bad in any way for Linux, Xen (Novell's preferred virtualization technology), or KVM (Red Hat's preferred virtualization technology). This is not a competition, per se.
With LinuxIC, Microsoft is doing two things. First, it's saying that contributing open-source software under GPL is acceptable. And second, it's supporting the idea, which I and others in the Linux kernel community have long advanced, that all Linux kernel drivers should be open source.
LinuxIC is the latest example of how Microsoft is changing, and it's a big proof point. When Microsoft embraces Linux, that's news. When it does so by embracing GPL, it's perhaps time to start the countdown to Armageddon.
Follow me on Twitter @mjasay.
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CNET)
It's no secret you can run various flavors of Windows on Intel Macs using Apple's Bootcamp or other popular virtualization software options like Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. Any of these work great if you need to run Windows software on your Mac or even test beta software worry free, but a fairly recent discovery of mine might be a better choice. VirtualBox is the free, cross-platform, open-source virtualization software I used to get the Windows 7 beta running on a Mac, and it just received a major update.
VirtualBox 3.0 (Windows or Mac) lets you create a secure virtual environment to run the OS of your choice without effecting anything else on your computer. This means that in addition to being able to run software meant for a different system, you'll also be able test beta software without fear of conflicting with your current regular setup.
A handy wizards make it easy to set up a virtual system quickly.
(Credit: CNET)The new version of VirtualBox offers a huge laundry list of new features and fixes, but the major version updates include the capability to run up to 32 virtual CPUs; run programs (games!) that require Direct3D 8 or 9 (Windows); and newly added support for OpenGL 2.0 for Windows, Linux, and Solaris.
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CNET)
Most people who read The Download Blog are probably familiar with the coming release of Windows 7. For a full rundown of new features, check out Seth Rosenblatt's hands on post here, but there's plenty of Windows 7 content to pore over.
Judging from many of the comments, people who have used Windows 7 are saying it's the OS everyone hoped Vista would be. So when I read this week that you can easily setup and run Windows 7 in a virtual environment on an Intel Mac, I had to try it out. I can't advise every Intel Mac user to try this, but if you're an experienced computer user and take care to make sure your current data is backed up beforehand, this method for getting the Windows 7 Release Candidate on your Mac is pretty simple. The best part about it? It's free.
To get started, download VirtualBox (Mac or Windows). This free virtual environment from Sun lets you set up a sterile environment to test out questionable apps, experiment with beta programs, and--for our purposes--launch an entirely different operating system. Anyone with VMWare Fusion or Parallels can skip this step; VirtualBox is for people who don't already have a virtual environment. Boot Camp users who install Windows 7 on a partition can launch Windows 7 after a restart, but VirtualBox makes it possible without a restart for free.
Use the dropdown windows to select the correct version of Windows
(Credit: CNET)Once VirtualBox is installed, download the Windows 7 Release Candidate. This is a 2.36GB file--so if you're not on a fast connection (and even if you are) you'll probably want to download it over night. You will need a Hotmail account, MSN account, or Windows Live ID to download the file from Microsoft.
Launch VirtualBox and create a New Virtual Machine. Name the machine "Windows 7" or whatever will be recognizable to you. Make sure to set the RAM to 1GB for smoother performance. The rest of the settings you can leave as default. Start your new virtual machine, and choose to install Windows from CD/DVD (you're using a CD image of the software which you'll choose by browsing your desktop). In the Media Source section of that same window, choose the Windows 7 image file you downloaded.
Select Create new hard disk for your copy of Windows 7 to live in
(Credit: CNET)Next, you will go through several installation dialog boxes which should be mostly self explanatory (Install Now, language choice, etc). When the installer asks which type of installation you want, choose Custom (Advanced) because you are installing cleanly on an untouched virtual system. When the next window asks where you would like to install Windows, install it in the default location (which will be your 20GB virtual hard drive).
From there, wait through the installation process, choose whatever username you want, and Use Recommended settings to start off. Since this is a free release candidate for testing, you can bypass the registration screen completely by hitting Next.
Last, but not least, set the Windows clock to the correct time, choose the type of network your on (if you have a network) and that's it! Windows 7 should start up. The Windows 7 Release Candidate will continue to run through June 2010, when it will begin to nag you to buy the full version.
Windows 7 is up and running in VirtualBox!
(Credit: CNET)Note: If you plan to run Windows regularly in VirtualBox, you will need to take precautions against viruses, spyware, and other common Windows security concerns. At the very least download a free antivirus program and an antispyware program. To get you started for free, I suggest AntiVir and Malwarebytes, though there are plenty of free options available.
There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes here at CNET Download.com, and that includes the videos we editors create for the products we find most worthy--or the ones you keep coming back to time and again.
In that vein, we've stuffed this glorious playlist with the the top 10 software videos you watched on our site in 2008. Take a look--you may wind up with a new app you never knew you needed!
(Hint: Click the word "Playlist" to view the whole list or skip ahead.)
Here are the winners:
1. AVG Anti-Virus Free 8
2. Orbit Downloader
3. VirtualDJ
4. Avast Home Edition
5. Firefox 3
6. Ad-Aware 2008
7. FLV Player
8. FrostWire
9. Paint.NET
10. Spybot - Search & Destroy
See more video reviews on Windows, Mac, and Mobile software.
