This Inquirer article about VMWare opening up it’s source code to partners is great reading. We are currently working on a server running ESX with 4 VMs and it really rocks.

We started playing with VMWare Workstation when it was still in Beta back in the Integral Design days. Even then, it was obvious that it was going to be a world-beater. ESX is just incredible. Add in the VMotion tool for remotely deploying VMs and you have a system which genuinely increases productivity by a huge degree.

It is still surprising that Microsoft have failed to produce anything remotely competitive to these products. One would think that controlling the OS and buying Connectix would provide a big development advantage, but clearly that is not the case here.

Update: Further coverage and links on Good Morning Silicon Valley.

Update 2: Further coverage and opinion (including Xen) on CNET and eWeek