http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/14466243.htm
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| Virtualization software is a layer of software that sits on top of a
| computer operating system, whether it's Linux or Windows. It emulates
| the computer so that multiple copies of an operating system think they
| are each running on their own machine, when in reality they are all
| running on one physical computer or network server.
|
| [...]
|
| Without any marketing, VMware's software captured the attention of the
| geek community with its ability to run Windows and Linux on the same
| desktop. A student at Cornell University volunteered to host VMware's
| first release, so all the Linux developers who had read about it on
| Slashdot could download their free copies.
|
| [...]
|
| Funding materializes
|
| The first was the rise of Linux. The second was the growing need
| to streamline computer networks in corporate data centers.
|
| [...]
|
| VMware now faces competition on a few fronts. Microsoft, which also
| has virtualization software, said recently it eventually plans to
| build virtualization into the Windows operating system.
|
|
| Another threat is an open-source project called Xen, now managed by a
| company in Palo Alto. Since its founding in 2004, XenSource has
| received $23.5 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,
| Sevin Rosen Funds and others.
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