VMware’s x86 Virtualization Technology Named One of the 25 Most Influential Products of the Last 25 Years

eWEEK Labs Honors VMware for Bringing New Levels of Manageability to PC-based Technology and for Redefining the Enterprise Data Center

PALO ALTO, Calif., August 7, 2006 — VMware, Inc., the global leader in software for industry-standard virtualized desktops and servers, today announced that eWEEK Labs has named VMware’s x86 virtualization technology No. 7 in its list of the most influential 25 products that have defined the last 25 years of enterprise personal computing. The full list includes:

1. The IBM PC
2. Mosaic Web Browser
3. Apache
4. Intel i386 Processor
5. XNS
6. The Linux Kernel
7. VMware x86 Virtualization
8. Apple Macintosh
9. PGP
10. Compaq Portable
11. Adobe PDF and Acrobat
12. Lotus 1-2-3
13. Cisco IOS
14. Ashton-Tate dBase II
15. Palm Pilot
16. Linksys 802.11 Routers
17. Shiva LanRover
18. Phoenix BIOS
19. Red Hat Linux
20. Microsoft Visual Basic
21. Network General Sniffer
22. Lotus Notes
23. Windows 95
24. Microsoft Office
25. Nessus

eWEEK Labs noted: “Building on Intel’s bare-bones foundation, VMware brought new levels of manageability to PC-based technology and redefined the enterprise data center.” The eWEEK feature can be found at: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1995813,00.asp.

“When we founded VMware in 1998, the vision was that modernized virtualization would benefit every computing system, but we were not at all sure it would actually happen,” said Diane Greene, president of VMware. “eWEEK’s inclusion of VMware’s products as among the most impactful of the last 25 years is wonderful, and it is validated by our large and happy user, customer and partner base. VMware is focused on continuing our product innovation and development, and now we are also working with the industry to realize the full potential of virtualization. In particular, we are proactively pushing open, license-free, technically optimal standards. With standards there is an opportunity for an industry that offers customers a choice based purely on functionality, quality and price."

“Today, IT organizations and business executives face similar pressures. They must cut costs, innovate and create new lines of revenue,” said Stephen Elliot, an analyst at IDC. “Now more than ever, this alignment is dependent on technologies that excel at being agile, dynamic and forward thinking. Over the next 25 years, technology companies that have these requirements at their core will flourish.”

VMware was founded in 1998 to bring virtual machine technology to industry-standard offerings. VMware shipped its first groundbreaking product, VMware Workstation, in 1999 and entered the server market in 2001 with VMware GSX Server and VMware ESX Server. VMware went on to launch VMware VirtualCenter with VMotion technology in 2003, moving beyond platform virtualization and leveraging that platform to handle system infrastructure services in an automated, distributed and ultimately more powerful way.

In 2004 VMware extended the enterprise desktop platform to solve security and remote management problems with the introduction of VMware ACE. VMware Player in late 2005 and VMware Server in early 2006 brought new users the first free commercially available virtualization products. In June 2006, the company shipped VMware Infrastructure 3, which is a fully distributed and automated comprehensive virtualization software suite allowing large-scale enterprises and small businesses alike to optimize and manage their IT environments with unprecedented ease and power.

Today more than 4 million users and 20,000 enterprises, including 99 of the Fortune 100 companies, use VMware software for projects ranging from creating small- and medium-sized business solutions to forming the strategic backbone of enterprise infrastructure for Global 1000 companies. VMware desktop and server customers have become evangelistic about the flexibility, ROI and new capabilities they have benefited from in deploying VMware’s high-quality products for test and development, desktop manageability, security and interoperability. In addition, customers have realized across-the-board strategic gains with savings in power, space, hardware and time coupled with new and leapfrog-better system infrastructure services such as load balancing, high availability and backup.

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 www.vmware.com or call 650-475-5000.

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