VMware: Not just hypervisor revenue

Freeze DLL Hell: One of the uses of VMware is to freeze a Windows operating system product so that the software running on top of it will run forever, rather than break on the next regular Microsoft patch Tuesday. This is especially useful if the software involves one of the companies Microsoft considers an arch rival - such as Business Objects, who purchased Crystal Reports a few years back.

Crystal Reports had been the report writer included in every suite of development tools Microsoft ever put out, until (I understand) this year. It is now included in IBM's Rational tool set.

Even small Microsoft shops will have hundreds of Crystal Reports that are active in day to day business activities. So unless some kind of report conversion utility can be developed for .Net/ Sharepoint, I see little hope for removing the arch rivals product from the ecosystem. This reality needs to be recognized.

Coupled with the reality that VMware means software that works need not be replaced every few years owing to operating system updates and security concerns (AKA dll hell) needs to sink in. Bottom line, the days when arch rivals could duke it out on the shop floors via thuggery, kickbacks and implied lucrative future jobs is coming to an end. The competition will have to be on merit, documented quality (API documentation) and actual quality in the future.; Posted by: mighetto Posted on: 09/12/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use