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Sun just announced the availability of Sun xVM Virtual Box 2.0. The biggest change in xVM VirtualBox 2.0 is the new support for 64-bit versions of operating systems like Windows Vista and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, in addition to all other major host operating systems. VirtualBox also offers a new user interface for the Mac platform, improved networking for the Mac OS X and Solaris OS, as well as improved performance, especially on AMD chips. Customers who purchase an enterprise subscription will also receive a Right-to-Use License, allowing them to deploy the xVM VirtualBox platform using their own software deployment tools. The following major new features were added: * 64 bits guest support (64 bits host only) * New native Leopard user interface on Mac OS X hosts * The GUI was converted from Qt3 to Qt4 with many visual improvements * New-version notifier * Guest property information interface * Host Interface Networking on Mac OS X hosts * New Host Interface Networking on Solaris hosts * Support for Nested Paging on modern AMD CPUs (major performance gain) * Framework for collecting performance and resource usage data (metrics) * Added SATA asynchronous IO (NCQ: Native Command Queuing) when accessing raw disks/partitions (major performance gain) * Clipboard integration for OS/2 Guests * Created separate SDK component featuring a new Python programming interface on Linux and Solaris hosts * Support for VHD disk images

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Sun Microsystems today announced new multi-year OEM agreements with Avanquest Software, Q-layer and Zenith InfoTech to expand the reach of Sun xVM VirtualBox. Sun xVM VirtualBox is available via the OEM program or in a free, open source version here. Since its release in January 2007, Sun xVM (VirtualBox) has surpassed 5 million downloads, and the company boasts about it being the first free hypervisor to support all major host operating systems, including Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, Solaris and OpenSolaris. Sun xVM VirtualBox software, which it acquired through its maker innotek earlier this year, is a key component of Sun's broader xVM virtualization and management software portfolio, which includes Sun xVM Ops Center, Sun xVM Server and the Sun VDI Software. Avanquest will produce and publish Sun xVM VirtualBox bundled with OpenSolaris and sell it via retail outlets in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France. Beginning this fall, Avanquest will provide Mac users with a solution to run the Windows operating system through Sun xVM VirtualBox. Q-layer is leveraging Sun xVM VirtualBox to deliver complete datacenter virtualization capabilities for its customers. Zenith InfoTech has built its network attached storage appliance for small and medium-sized businesses using Sun xVM VirtualBox.

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Sun Microsystems today announced that Sun xVM VirtualBox, the free and open source desktop virtualization software it acquired by taking over its maker innotek earlier this year, has surpassed five million downloads in just 18 months.

The press release touts the xVM VirtualBox 1.6 software to be the first free hypervisor to support all major host operating systems (OS), including Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, Solaris and OpenSolaris. Sun unveiled xVM VirtualBox 1.6 earlier this month. Currently downloaded more than 10,000 times a day, the new version includes more than 2,000 enhancements and full support for Mac OS X, Solaris and OpenSolaris host operating systems. It also features newly added support for high performance virtual devices, improved scalability and Web services for remote administration. xVM VirtualBox software is a key component of Sun's xVM virtualization and management software portfolio, which includes Sun xVM Ops Center, Sun xVM Server, expected for release in the Summer of 2008, and the Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Software.

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The folks at Sun Microsystems didn't hesitate all too long to start fiddling around with VirtualBox after their acquisition of its maker innotek about 3 months ago. The company has just released version 1.6.0, and its changelog neatly tracks what's new.

The following major new features were added:

• Solaris and Mac OS X host support
• Seamless windowing for Linux and Solaris guests
• Guest Additions for Solaris
• A webservice API
• SATA hard disk (AHCI) controller
• Experimental Physical Address Extension (PAE) support

In addition, the following items were ?xed and/or added:

• GUI: added accessibility support (508)
• GUI: VM session information dialog
• VBoxHeadless: renamed from VBoxVRDP
• VMM: reduced host CPU load of idle guests
• VMM: many ?xes for VT-x/SVM hardware-supported virtualization
• ATA/IDE: better disk geometry compatibility with VMware images
• ATA/IDE: virtualize an AHCI controller
• Storage: better write optimization, prevent images from growing unnecessarily.
• Network: support PXE booting with NAT
• Network: ?xed the Am79C973 PCNet emulation for Nexenta guests
• NAT: improved builtin DHCP server (implemented DHCPNAK response)
• NAT: port forwarding stopped when restoring the VM from a saved state
• NAT: make subnet con?gurable
• XPCOM: moved to libxml2
• XPCOM: ?xed VBoxSVC autostart race
• Audio: SoundBlaster 16 emulation
• USB: ?xed problems with USB 2.0 devices
• MacOS X: ?xed seamless mode
• MacOS X: better desktop integration, several look’n’feel ?xes
• MacOS X: switched to Quartz2D framebuffer
• MacOS X: added support for shared folders
• MacOS X: added support for clipboard integration
• Solaris: added host audio playback support (experimental)
• Solaris: made it possible to run VirtualBox from non-global zones
• Shared Folders: made them work for NT4 guests
• Shared Folders: many bug?xes to improve stability
• Seamless windows: added support for Linux guests
• Linux installer: support DKMS for compiling the kernel module
• Linux host: compatibility ?xes with Linux 2.6.25
• Windows host: support for USB devices has been signi?cantly improved; many additional USB devices now work
• Windows Additions: automatically install AMD PCNet drivers on Vista guests
• Linux additions: several ?xes, experimental support for RandR 1.2
• Linux additions: compatibility ?xes with Linux 2.6.25

You can download VirtualBox 1.6.0 free of charge here.

[Source: Virtualization.info]

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Looks like that Parallels IPO won't be happening after all. Sun Microsystems has today announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Parallels (formerly SWsoft) and all of its assets for a whopping $ 205 million. The major acquisition had been rumoured to be imminent throughout the course of 2007, but never actually went through, which led mosts analysts to believe the Herndon, VA-based company was heading towards an IPO following in VMware's footsteps rather than being picked up by one of the big boys.

Needless to say, the acquisition is a pretty bold one, which is bound to serve as wake-up call for the entire virtualization industry. Both companies had been on a buying spree the past few months: Sun picked up innotek / VirtualBox, while Parallels recently acknowledged its January acquisition of ModernGigabyte. The acquisition is expected to be finalized by June, around the time Sun also plans to ship xVM Server.

"With the acquisition of Parallels, Sun's ready to become the only true leader in virtualization technology," said Brian Sutphin, Executive Vice President Corporate Development & Alliances for Sun Microsystems. "With Parallels' strong desktop position, we will be able to cater both Windows/Linux and Mac users with our state-of-the-art virtualization offering." Sergei Beloussov, Board Chairman and CEO of Parallels, added:"We're extremely excited about the opportunities this merger will bring for our many customers and partners. We're looking forward to effectively integrating our server product line with Sun's sparc systems."

Parallels, former SWsoft, has been making waves ever since it was founded in 1999. The virtualization technology company today counts more than 900 employees worldwide and has more than doubled revenues every year for the past eight years, while its products have been giving VMware a run for its money, especially in the small- and medium-business marketplace. The company was backed in 2005 by Intel Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Insight Venture Partners. While VMware has been more than struggling to consolidate its splashing entry on the public market, Parallels has effectively become the second largest virtualization seller, with both containers and hypervisor plays in its portfolio. Sun's bold move is logical in this regard, be it quite late, as this acquisition would have made more sense if it had happened around this time last year. We're still scrambling to get some official comments on the news from market insiders, we'll update this post as they come in! Update: obviously, this was an April Fool (we're in based in Europe, so it's April 1 earlier than over in the US). On any other day, what would you think about this announcement? Would it have surprised you that much? Do you think it would be a fair valuation and a good synergy? Let us know in comments! (also: check some classic April Fools' Day jokes here) Update 2: kudos to Parallels for their sense of humour, thanks to Brian, Dan and Tarry for linking and to the person who dugg the story ;) Update 3: check out our follow-up post

Baseline published an interesting list of "10 free virtualization tools you should know" on its website.

The list in full:

1. OpenVZ (Parallels) - also check out our video interview with Werner Fisher from Thomas-Krenn.AG on OpenVZ
2. FreeVPS (Positive Software)
3. Sun xVM (Sun Microsystems, who wants to equip Web 2.0 startups with "SAMP")
4. VirtualBox (innotek, recently acquired by Sun)
5. PlateSpin Power Recon (PlateSpin, recently acquired by Novell)
6. Vizioncore vOptimizer Free Ware (Vizioncore, recently acquired by Quest)
7. Virtual Iron Single Server Edition (Virtual Iron)
8. Enomalism Virtualized Management Dashboard - VMD (Enomaly)
9. Microsoft Virtual Server Migration Toolkit - VSMT (Microsoft) - also check out our video interview with Mike Neil, Virtual Machine Technologies Product Unit Manager at Microsoft
10. Moka5 LivePC Engine (Moka5)

Sun Microsystems has just announced , in a surprising move, the acquisition of German desktop virtualization technology provider innotek , makers of the well-known VirtualBox family. VirtualBox is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware. Targeted at server, desktop and embedded use, it is one of the only professional-quality virtualization solutions built on Open Source technology.

The acquisition by Sun, in essence a stock purchase agreement with undisclosed financial details, is a definite winner. With over four million downloads since January 2007, innotek's VirtualBox product has been quickly established as one of the leading developer desktop virtualization platforms. As part of the Sun xVM portfolio, VirtualBox will have the support of Sun's global development community, field resources and partners to make VirtualBox "even more compelling to developers and end users, driving greater adoption across a broad set of communities". From the press release:

"By enabling developers to more efficiently build, test and run applications on multiple platforms, VirtualBox will extend the Sun xVM platform onto the desktop and strengthen Sun's leadership in the virtualization market." "VirtualBox provides Sun with the perfect complement to our recently announced Sun xVM Server product," said Rich Green, executive vice president, Sun Software. "Where Sun xVM Server is designed to enable dynamic IT at the heart of the datacenter, VirtualBox is ideal for any laptop or desktop environment and will align perfectly with Sun's other developer focused assets such as GlassFish, OpenSolaris, OpenJDK and soon MySQL as well as a wide range of community open source projects, enabling developers to quickly develop, test and deploy the next generation of applications."

The acquisition is also another sign EMEA is marking its territory in virtualization land.