ONE of the more appalling, if emotional, stories we've come across and also covered here is to do with VMware. In a nutshell, Microsoft and its established allies in the industry tossed out the core of VMware quite forcibly and replaced it with Microsoft cronies. In addition, Microsoft had its very close partner buy XenSource (there is a background story) and it is also using Novell to ensure that Windows earns a place in the so-called 'cloud'. We have heaps of supportive evidence that we accumulated. Some of our previous posts on this topic include:

• Maritz and Tucci's Microsoft Slog Against VMware
• Does Microsoft Do VMware's Thinking 'on Its Behalf'?
• Citrix, Microsoft and Novell Come Together
• Already-exposed Microsoft Shill Oozes VMware Poison

On numerous occasions -- and always well-equipped with evidence -- we warned that Citrix was turning Xen into a Windows/Hyper-V enabler. Citrix is, after all, one of the companies most dependent on Microsoft's success. A few days ago, more evidence emerged:

Microsoft's VMware assault: New Citrix management tools for Hyper-V

In the first quarter of 2009, Citrix will release its XenServer suite of management tools that works with Microsoft Hyper-V rather than its own XenServer hypervisor, said Lou Shipley, general manager and group vice president of Citrix's XenServer unit, the Management Systems Group.

No live migration? No problem. Courtesy of Citrix Systems Inc., Microsoft's relatively rudimentary Hyper-V virtualization offering is due to gain valuable new management capabilities, which could catapult Hyper-V into the same league as VMware Virtual Infrastructure.

It is rather clear to see what they aspire to achieve here. They use Xen to empower Microsoft Windows, mostly at the expense of GNU/Linux (Hyper-V is GNU/Linux-hostile [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]). VMware too has been captured by one of Microsoft's anti-competitive felons, who were found guilty of breaking the law. He was among the group that schemed to cut Netscape's air supply, to use his own words.

This is not competition; it's what Microsoft calls "a Slog". ⬆

“...[C]ut off Netscape’s air supply.”

--Paul Maritz, Vice President, Microsoft (Now VMWare)