Do More With Reuters
Partner Services

Sun Microsystems to sell 'virtual' Windows PCs

Sat Mar 8, 2008 6:18am IST
 
Email | Print | | Single Page
[-] Text [+]

BOSTON (Reuters) - Sun Microsystems Inc plans to introduce software and hardware to create "virtual" Windows and Linux personal computers that can be accessed via desktop machines, laptops and cell phones, a company executive said on Friday.

"We are going to announce (it) soon," said Steve Wilson, a Sun vice president involved in the project.

Companies will host the PCs on server computers at data centers using software that Sun has developed. They can be accessed via a $200 desktop hardware package from Sun, which includes a monitor, he said.

"It gives you instant access anywhere," he said.

He discussed the product in an interview with Reuters.

Sun will be joining Citrix Systems Inc, VMware Inc and several privately held companies that hope to establish footholds in the fledgling field of virtual personal computing.

VMware has already turned its technology for virtual servers into a business that generates sales of about $350 million in its most recent quarter. Now companies are looking to build the same kind of industry out of virtual PCs.

One selling point of virtual PCs is that businesses can manage them from centralized data centers, instead of requiring techs to travel to locations where workers access their computers.

They promise that hardware, such as Sun's $200 desktop, will be cheaper than a typical PC.

Plans call for workers to access their virtual machines from multiple pieces of hardware. So rather than an employee syncing a desktop PC with a laptop, he or she can access the same virtual PC from both pieces of equipment, or even from a cell phone or Blackberry.

India Investment Summit 2009
India Investment Summit 2009

Top executives and bankers discuss their own plans and the broader opportunities and challenges for India during the Reuters India Investment Summit in Mumbai and Bangalore.  Full Coverage | Blog 

editor's choice

Cross-post
Cross-post

LinkedIn and Twitter have linked up.  Full Article 

Big Opportunity
Big Opportunity

Nokia sees enormous potential in mobile money.  Full Article 

 
High Stakes
High Stakes

HP-3Com deal raises stakes in tech M&A battle.  Full Article 

Spending Freeze
Spending Freeze

Japan's freeze on supercomputers marks end of era.  Full Article 

 
Reuters correspondent Sourav Mishra recounts the unforgettable night of Nov. 26 at Mumbai's Leopold Cafe
Back from the Dead
REUTERS WITNESS - 26/11

Reuters correspondent Sourav Mishra recounts the night of Nov. 26 at Leopold Cafe.  Full Article | Full Coverage 

One Year Later

A look back at the events of 26/11 ahead of the first anniversary of the militant attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.  Slideshow | Full Coverage 

Photo
Ageing Santa gets $100,000 facelift for Christmas Friday, 20 Nov 2009 

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A Santa in New Zealand with a droopy eye has received a NZ$100,000 ($74,000) face-lift in the run-up to Christmas so that his aging face does not scare children.  Full Article