ANTenna Blog -- Networking & Communications

The virtualization tide just keeps on rolling. Today, Microsoft unexpectedly unveiled a beta release of Hyper-V Hypervisor, which will become part of Windows Server 2008 next year.

Earlier this week, we reported on how virtualization offers big benefits for small companies, and offered up 5 Simple Rules for small and midsize companies who want to go virtual.

Well, as InformationWeek's Charlie Babcock explains, by offering the beta version of its Hyper-V virtualization hypervisor (formerly called Viridian) as a "holiday surprise," Microsoft is signaling just how serious it is about competing with VMware's ESX Hypervisor.

Even as VMware execs bashed Microsoft's offering as too little to late, the virtualization reality is that additional competition will only spur innovation and drive down prices. From server consolidation and migration to efficient backup and disaster recovery, virtualization is pretty much becoming standard procedure.