Microsoft Nixes Windows Virtualization on Top of Linux

Greed is good. Just ask Gates, Balmer & Friends...

Microsoft will not allow Windows Vista or Windows XP to be virtualized on top of Linux, Sam Ramji, the director of Microsoft's open-source software lab, said at the annual LinuxWorld Conference and Expo here Aug. 7.

"What we have heard predominantly from customers is that they want to be able to mix and match their data center applications, but we haven't seen significant demand for Linux applications on the desktop or for desktop virtualization on top of Linux," Ramji said in an address titled "Linux and Windows Interoperability: On the Metal and on the Wire."

But, he said that while he does hear a lot of requests for this from developers in the Linux community, the feedback Microsoft is getting from customers and its Interoperability Executive Customer Council with regard to the desktop is that they want .Net and Java interoperability.

"We get no significant request for desktop virtualizations across platforms," he said.

It is possible, however, that virtual machines will be able to move between Linux and Windows in the future. However, don’t cross your fingers and hold your virtual breath….

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2168707,00.asp