Microsoft has just made virtualization much more affordable. Of course, I think that also means they just made virtual blue screens of death much more noticeable too.

Microsoft Corp. on Monday announced several moves it says will help its business customers take advantage of a technology called virtualization, and in the process help the software maker catch up with VMware Inc., the frontrunner in that area.

Virtualization allows one physical computer to house multiple “virtual machines,” each one acting like a separate computer with an operating system and all the software that runs on top of it.

…

To help move the virtual desktop scenario forward, Microsoft said Monday it plans to acquire Calista Technologies Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based start-up founded in 2006. Calista’s technology makes logging on to a virtual desktop feel more like working on a physical Windows computer, Microsoft said. No financial details of the agreement were disclosed.

Microsoft also said it will expand an alliance with another virtual desktop computing company, Citrix Systems Inc., that will help their respective products work well together.

Redmond-based Microsoft also announced it will cut the cost of licensing Windows for use on virtual machines to $23 from $78 per year for its big business customers.

Don’t get me wrong, this really is good news for some users. Just think, some of you will have absolutely no control over your machine, because it won’t be real, but that’s okay because you weren’t sure what I meant by the word virtualization anyway.

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