Microsoft needs Redhat's help

We all need each others help, don't we?

Microsoft and Novell announced today the opening of a 2,500 square foot lab in Cambridge, Mass. where engineers from both companies will code and test interoperability of their respective virtualization technologies.

The news comes a day after Microsoft announced imminent availability of the first test version of its Viridian virtualization hypervisor, which is expected to offer decent support for Xen virtual machines due to the company’s other interoperability alliance with XenSource. Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 incorporates the Xen open source hypvervisor, as does Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux 5.

The Community Technology Preview (roughly equivalent to what used to be called alpha software) is the first public look at the Viridian technology but it won’t have the Linux compatibility code built in when it is released later this month, Microsoft acknowledged. Customers won’t be able to test Linux support until the beta release of Viridian ships in mid 2008.

With efforts such as the interoperability lab, Microsoft is reinforcing its promise that when its hypervisor actually ships — now slated for late 2008 — Novell’s SLES-based virtual machines will sing nicely on the Windows server platform.

That’s not all. On Sept 12, Microsoft and Sun also announced an expansion of their alliance in which the two companies will ensure that Sun’s Solaris VMs runs well on Windows and Windows runs well in a virtualized state on Solaris.

But what about Red Hat’s Xen-based virtual machines?

ZDnet folks ponder. I will do my talking when I get some rest.