“WHILE the operating system (OS) market descends into a pitched
battle between the forces of Microsoft and the proponents of Linux,
there is a new tool on the horizon that may allow users to have the
best of both worlds.”
“Virtual Platform is a new take on an old technology called
“virtual machine monitor” – a device originally designed by IBM in
the 1960s to allow users to time-share or “multiplex” what were
then expensive mainframe server computers.”
“But instead of enabling multiple users access to expensive
hardware, VMware’s Virtual Platform enables users to run multiple
operating systems on the one PC at the same time. There is no need
to reboot to get access to a different OS – you simply switch from
one to another. And it’s not an emulator – it allows you to run the
real OS.”
“If you run legacy software such as MS-DOS applications, you can
run those alongside your more recent apps. Support for Be OS and
IBM’s OS/2 is expected later; however, it will not work with
MacOS.”