Microsoft to buy Connectix

Saw an article today that on Thursday, Microsoft will formally announce that they are buying Connectix, probably best known for making VirtualPC. It sounds like MS is most interested in their new, as-yet-unreleased product that enables "server virtualization" – i.e. running multiple OS's on one server. This is already common in the mainframe world, most notably IBMs stuff, which is well-known for the "running 1,000,000 instances of Linux".

From News.com:

Microsoft is acquiring some assets of Connectix, including software that permits Windows to run on a Macintosh and an unreleased server program. Connectix is best known for its 14-year-old Virtual PC software, but has been trying to recast itself as a maker of server virtualization software, which lets a single machine perform like several independent machines running their own operating systems.

From CRN:

Connectix, which is privately held and was founded in 1988, provides virtualization software for Windows-based computing. Last fall, it launched a product called Virtual Server that offers an enterprise-class virtualization solution for Windows-based servers. The technology has been in beta testing, and Microsoft is expected to productize it and ship it later this year after rigorous testing. Virtual Server is a native Windows-based server application that enables customers to run a wide range of server operating systems including Windows, Linux, Unix, OS/2 and DOS, concurrently on a single physical server, within isolated virtual machines.