Many of you have probably seen the article in Fortune magazine — http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/19/technology/fastforward_parallels.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007012206 — about SWsoft and Parallels. I would like to make few comments about this:

·         With Parallels server products coming soon, SWsoft now provides a full range of server virtualization products. SWsoft customers don’t have to make a hard choice between hardware and OS virtualization. They can have both, and from the same vendor. SWsoft/Parallels is the only company in the world to provide a complete suite of virtualization software across Windows, Linux and MacOS.

·         We have always believed – and I blogged about it – that hardware and OS virtualization technologies complement each rather than compete. We don’t see Parallels product line competing with Virtuozzo or with VMware. We believe that Virtuozzo is the best technology for large-scale production installations – such as enterprise and service provider data centers – where it successfully competes with VMware. Parallels is better suited for small business and departmental applications, where flexibility and ease of use are more important that ultimate performance and density.

·         We are working on making Parallels and Virtuozzo interoperate and integrate with each other so that they can be a part of one solution, rather than two separate technologies. It’s a bit too early for technical details, but for starters, Virtuozzo Tools will support Parallels products

·         Even though Parallels is owned by SWsoft, they will remain different companies – different brands, different web sites – for quite a while. For example, SWsoft will continue using the recently introduced “red-and-white” branding and you’ll still find Parallels people at conferences in those crazy orange shirts.

How do you feel about this?