A Mad, Mad, Mad VMworld

Kevin Maney looks ahead: Next week, the most successful software start-up of the past five years -- VMware -- will host its annual convention, called VMworld. Every year it gets bigger, and this year VMware is expecting 14,000 in Vegas. But while the atmosphere at the last VMworld was triumphant, this one will be, well, interesting to say the least.

In July, VMware's co-founder and CEO, Diane Green, got ousted. The company was already cutting back on its earnings forecast as competitors surged into a market VMware invented -- but dumping Green sent the company into cardiac arrest. The stock was in the $70 range mid-year. It's now around $34. Top talent was terribly loyal to Green, and they are abandoning the company -- not to mention VMware's co-founder and top scientist, Mendel Rosenblum, who was also Green's husband.

So now what? Analysts say VMware has to put on a big show at VMworld, convince customers it has the best technology, and move forward into offering virtualization for desktops and laptops -- so us consumers can easily run Mac OS and Windows side-by-side on the same machine. In other words, the show could make or break VMware. We'll see if new CEO Paul Maritz is up to it.