eWEEK Names VMware Workstation a Top Product of 2005

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VMware, Inc., the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems, today announced that eWEEK has named VMware Workstation 5, the fifth generation of its powerful desktop virtualization software, a Top Product of 2005. This is the fifth major industry award that Workstation 5 has won since its release in April 2005. In 2005, Workstation 5 won the eWEEK Labs Analyst's Choice, PC Magazine Editors' Choice, Redmond Magazine Editors' Choice and Redmond Magazine Most Valuable Product awards.

"VMware Workstation 5 boosts IT organizations' infrastructure flexibility; increases productivity; and lowers IT costs for tasks such as technical support, training and software development. This update also includes significant improvements in memory management, allowing users to run multiple virtual machines without noticeable performance degradation," said Anne Chen, senior writer at eWEEK Labs. "I also liked new features such as the ability to take multiple snapshots and to revert to specific ones. Cloning capabilities, which enable easy duplication of virtual machines, were also something I was glad to see."

Millions today use VMware Workstation, first introduced seven years ago, to accelerate software development, testing and deployment and increase product quality. With VMware Workstation, enterprises are able to create a library of virtual machines for 32-bit and 64-bit x86 operating systems, including Linux, NetWare, Solaris x86 and Windows, that replicate production environments. These virtual machines can then be rapidly provisioned and used, making it possible for developers and testers to spend more time developing and testing software and less time configuring and managing their required environments.

In November 2005, VMware released VMware Workstation 5.5. The update includes support for 64-bit guests, Virtual SMP and Intel Virtualization Technology (VT), making VMware Workstation 5.5 a powerful platform to accelerate the development, testing and support of next-generation applications.

Chen continued: "And now that VMware has released VMware Player, anyone can get a glimpse of what is possible with virtualization and VMware Workstation. The handy player is free for download and allows users to run a VMware instance on their Windows or Linux host operating system."

Virtual machines created with VMware Workstation can be deployed to VMware Player, a free new product that enables anyone to easily run, evaluate and share software in a virtual machine on a Windows or Linux PC, in addition to the enterprise-class VMware GSX Server and data center-class VMware ESX Server platforms. Once deployed on GSX Server or ESX Server, VMware VirtualCenter can manage these virtual machines. This lets development teams more easily manage the software lifecycle process and seamlessly move computing environments from development to testing, and from staging to production.

"We are honored to be spotlighted by one of the industry's most respected publications for continuing to push the technology envelope," said Dan Chu, senior director of developer and ISV products at VMware. "This award underscores the tremendous value that millions of users are getting from VMware Workstation today and we're committed to continual innovation and execution in 2006."

Information on the eWEEK awards can be found at: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1901684,00.asp. About eWEEK

eWEEK is a technology information source for builders of enterprise infrastructure. eWEEK enables readers to successfully evaluate, deploy and leverage new technology solutions for competitive advantage. The publication delivers to its readers breaking news, technology evaluations and strategic analyses on the technologies, platforms and trends that impact enterprise-wide computing. eWEEK reaches 400,100 enterprise technology buyers who are evaluating and purchasing technology solutions for their companies. eWEEK delivers news, analysis and technology reviews in print weekly and on a daily basis on the Web. About VMware, Inc.

VMware, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC), is the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems. The world's largest companies use VMware solutions to simplify their IT, fully leverage their existing computing investments and respond faster to changing business demands. VMware is based in Palo Alto, California. For more information, visit http://www.vmware.com or call 650-475-5000. NOTE: VMware is a trademark of VMware, Inc. All other trademarks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.