The open-source Docker virtualization container project released its 0.8 release this week, for the first time providing native support for Mac OS X users.
Docker is an open-source effort that takes a different approach to application virtualization than virtualization hypervisors like VMware’s ESX, Microsoft’ Hyper-V or the open-source Xen or Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) projects. Instead of virtualizing an entire operating system, Docker is a container system that sits on top of an existing host operating system. The general idea is that a Docker-based approach is more efficient and potentially easier to secure. Earlier this year Docker Inc., the lead commercial sponsor behind the open-source project, announced that it had raised $15 million in new funding.