As interest in virtualization on the desktop continues to rise there naturally has been a lot of discussion about running Windows, Linux and Apple Macintosh operating systems side by side on machines running multi-core processors.
This can be accomplished most efficiently using Type 1 hypervisor client software that allows hardware systems to run multiple instances of various operating systems, as opposed to other approaches that require users to install one operating system as a virtual guest on top of another system. The issue with Type 1 hypervisor approaches is how to integrate the multiple operating systems sharing the same underlying hardware.
To solve that problem, Neocleus has released NeoSphere, which not only gives IT administrators a centralized approach to managing multiple operating systems running on the same client, but also creates a framework that allows those operating systems to share data and even applications.
Up until now, running multiple operating systems on the same client has primarily appealed to geeks and IT organizations with particular requirements. But with the advent of Windows 7, you can’t help but wonder if more IT organizations are going to be interested in an approach that allows them to run Windows 7 and Windows XP side by side.
While it’s true that Windows 7, like Windows Vista before it, will include an Windows XP application compatibility option, chances are good that a lot of IT organizations are going to want to take a measured approach to migrating to Windows 7. Given that requirement, the ability to effectively integrate Windows XP and Windows 7 through a common layer of virtualization software might prove to be a pretty compelling approach.
With the rise of virtualization and multicore processors, we now live in the most interesting of IT times. And when it comes to developing future Windows migration strategies, those two technologies should factor very heavily into the future plans of every enterprise IT organization.
