Ryan Rand, from Microsoft Windows Server division, offered on the corporate blog a 3-parts insight on what Microsoft has achieved and is going to achieve with virtualization technologies:
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Working in partnership with Intel and AMD, Microsoft is building a platform-layer virtualization solution, based on the virtualization extensions being developed by both partners and put into chips starting this year. This new virtualization solution will be available in the Longhorn Server timeframe and provide tremendous improvements to virtualization performance. A platform layer virtualization solution makes it possible to deploy virtual servers as the default installation option, which means it’s time to party like it’s 1974!Providing a common set of management tools that manage OS and application and the virtualization layer itself is a key area where Microsoft is investing today. Microsoft has a vision for Self-Managing Dynamic Systems, which is a marriage of the flexibility inherent in virtualization and the automation of powerful management tools across the stack…