It's a VM World Now

If you don't work in information technology, there's a good chance you haven't heard of VMware, which makes something called virtualization software. It's not half as immediately appealing as, say, Facebook, but it saves corporations tons of money, and is the fastest-growing software company in a long, long time.

In fact, in tech circles, there is something of a VMware frenzy going on. In a couple of weeks, starting Sept. 11, VMware will host a virtualization conference in San Francisco, called VMworld. Guess how many people are expected? Did you say 500? Or were you thinking more like 2,000? Ha. The Moscone Center will be jammed with 10,000 people.

The CEO and co-founder, Diane Greene, is becoming one of tech's biggest celebrities, and certainly one if the industry's most influential women.

And then, of course, there is VMware's IPO. It is 87% owned by tech giant EMC, but the other 13% was floated two weeks ago. The stock has since tripled.

Where is this heading? No one sees any brakes being applied to the virtualization market for any foreseeable future. It is software that saves money and resources, and has only begun to edge into the market. Eventually, it could be on every PC and laptop, allowing users to run two or three operating systems at the same time.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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