If Steve Jobs doesn't want to push Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) into the enterprise computing arena, maybe VMware (NYSE:VMW) can do the honors.
The just-released VMware Fusion 2.0 brings a slew of business-friendly new features to this user-friendly tool for running Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows software on Mac hardware. Most importantly, users can now take multiple snapshots of their virtual machines, making it easy to backup and restore the "guest" operating system's working state. Furthermore, the integration between Fusion and the Mac OS X user interface has been improved, including seamless data sharing between the two environments. And now you can set up certain file types to open in Mac or Windows applications when double-clicked. "We want our customers to see that Windows really is better on the Mac," says VMware spokesman Pat Lee in a written statement.
Because Fusion is targeted to a specific host platform -- Mac OS X -- and its very specific set of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) hardware, it's a lean and mean virtual machine with great performance and an ever-slicker user experience. VMware Workstation and Server are built to work on a range of different hardware/software platforms, so it's harder to make them as efficient or as easy-to-use as Fusion is.
It's not the only virtualization option available for Mac users today, but the offerings from Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:JAVA) and Parallels lack much of the spit-shine and performance of Fusion. And the backup-friendly snapshots bring VMware's product to a whole new level of appeal to the business world. And it's dragging Apple's user-friendly computers right along with it. Last year, Microsoft's business software division made more than $15 billion on enterprise sales last year. Apple and VMware look ready to steal a sliver of that rich, creamy cash pie.
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