Microsoft is buying Connectix in a move the company said promotes server consolidation and allows customers to run legacy Windows NT applications inside Windows Server 2003. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The move, though, could also see Microsoft officially support Linux inside the latest addition to its server operating system family, due for launch on April 24.

Connectix is developing virtualization software for Windows servers, which supports a number of x86-based operating systems. That will include Linux along with Windows 2000 Server and OS/2. Virtual Server is undergoing beta testing with delivery due by the end of 2003.

San Mateo, California-based Connectix’s existing virtualization software is for Windows and Macintosh-based desktops.

A Microsoft spokesperson said support for Linux was not a part of the company’s consideration in buying Connectix. She added, though, Microsoft had no plans to change support for different operating systems in the planned server.

Senior Microsoft executives, though, have become increasingly alarmed by the threat Linux poses to the company’s Windows server business. In a recent financial filing, Microsoft also raised the potential of product price cuts in the battle to take on Linux servers.

Analyst Meta Group, meanwhile, last year predicted that by 2004 Microsoft would move some of its key application enablers to Linux, adding this will gradually include major back-office products, such as SQL Server, IIS and Exchange.

By embracing Linux, Microsoft may hope to contain the threat posed by the open source operating system and help ensure Windows remains the underlying platform of choice among customers.

The company instead promoted the acquisition as means to let Windows NT applications run inside Windows Server 2003. Large numbers of customers remain wedded to Windows NT 4.0, having resisted moving to the subsequent Windows 2000 Server operating system.

By enabling customers to run these applications inside Windows Server 2003, Microsoft hopes to carry these users over while also phasing-out support for the actual operating system. Microsoft last month announced its plan to extend support for Windows NT 4.0 by 12 months.

Source: Computerwire