Windows Server® 2012 Unleashed

History of Windows Virtualization

Microsoft’s position in the virtualization marketplace before the release of the last version of Windows Server (Windows Server 2008 R2) wasn’t one where Microsoft particularly had a bad product. However, because Microsoft had only jumped into the server virtualization space just a couple years prior to the release of Windows 2008 R2, it was a relatively newcomer to server virtualization and so required more maturity in its product.

Acquisition of Virtual PC

Microsoft jumped into the virtualization marketplace through the acquisition of a company called Connectix in 2003. At the time of the acquisition, Virtual PC provided a virtual session of Windows on either a Windows system or on a Macintosh computer system. ...