Microsoft acquisition of Calista is not the only news that was leaked today. The entire press announcement describing the renewed Microsoft virtualization strategy was just published by ZDNet and DABCC (with many others following).
Among others, the announcement unveils major interoperability between the Microsoft and Citrix virtualization offering. The partnership between the two on virtualization goes well beyond granting smooth performances for Windows virtual machines and adopting VHD for future products.
Today (tomorrow actually) Microsoft announces that both Citrix platforms, XenServer and Presentation server, will be managed by System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM). At the same time Citrix announces that its new connection broker, XenDesktop, will support upcoming Hyper-V as virtualization host. Additionally Citrix announces that it’s working on a V2V migration tool able to seamless move virtual machines between Hyper-V and XenServer.
A major news for Microsoft customers considering that SCVMM will also manage VMware platforms.
Over time it appears evident how the Microsoft strategy is to surround VMware through massive partnerships focused on virtualization: with Novell, with Citrix and recently with Sun. Maybe this is why Oracle CEO says VMware is the next Netscape.