VMware, a pioneer in software that lets computers run multiple operating systems simultaneously, plans to unveil a subscription plan Monday to grant developers cheaper and easier access to the company's products.
The VMware Technology Network subscription costs $299 per person per year, the EMC subsidiary plans to announce. Subscribers will be able to use all EMC's major projects -- Workstation, the lower-end GSX Server and the top-end ESX Server -- instead of having to pay individually for each one, said Srinivas Krishnamurti, a VMware group product manager.
The option grants much cheaper access to the software: GSX Server costs $1,694 for a dual-processor machine. Under the new subscription, though, the software may only be used for development purposes; production use requires a customer to buy separate licences.
Although the ability to run multiple operating systems on higher-end Unix and mainframe servers has been available for years, VMware runs on more mainstream systems using x86 processors such as Intel's Pentium and Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron.
Through the network, subscribers will be able to download pre-built virtual machines with software installed from VMware business partners, including Oracle, Red Hat, Novell and SpikeSource, Krishnamurti said. Other such partnerships are expected, he added. Here, too, the software may be used only for development purposes.
VMware will launch the VMware Technology Network Web site on Monday. The subscriptions and pre-built application examples will become available on 13 June.
VMware faces competition today chiefly from Microsoft's Virtual PC and Virtual Server products, though an open-source project called Xen has widespread support.
