Both Intel and AMD are talking "virtualization", the concept was in IBM mainframes and Unix machines. Enterprise clients knew virtual machine if they used Unix before. Now they face to take their time in the virtualization offerings from both Intel and AMD this year. Virtualization, what's the describtion from Intel and AMD ? If we say that Intel and AMD are offering "virtual machines," a technology that has its origins in the mainframe and has since been available on the Unix platform in large enterprises. then, Virtual Machines is a single server with one or more processors containing multiple operating systems and applications. therefore, if you have got an Intel box using virtual machine technology, I can make it look like there are five ( for example) boxes in there, one running Unix, one running Linux, one running Windows and two others are running other operating systems. The competing virtual machines from Intel and AMD are designed to help enterprise clients consolidate internal servers and better manage their IT infrastructure costs. It is really a reaction to the proliferation of desktops and servers in organizations. At one point during the Internet boom, the number of server firms with those servers and desktops running in the city were siphoning off a significant percentage of the entire electrical output of area. Intel's virtualization technology will be out on the market in three months and AMD's offering is coming out this July. Now it is difficult to comment on the actual products until they are released. AMD said a major difference with how its company's technology is applying the Hypervisor -- that layer of virtualization technology that manages the operating systems and applications within the virtual machine. AMD has removed some (but not all) of the functions in the Hypervisor and embedded it in the processor or processors at the core of the virtual machine. It is to take a set of that basic level of functionality and enabled the processor to do some of that directly. The advantage for enterprise users is that the speed and performance of systems running on the virtualization technology will be enhanced. AMD's reduction of the role of the hypervisor that is more about the politics of the industry. Intel, which is maintaining the hypervisor's management function within its virtualization technology, has strong established relationships with the various developers of hypervisor software such as IBM and Microsoft. AMD is more of the upstart player in the processor market. AMD does not have the same relationships [with the hypervisor software vendors]. It is easier for AMD to hive off some of the functionality of the hypervisor onto the processor. The more functionality they incorporate on the chip, the less they have to rely on their software partners. Virtual Machine is a long sales cycle for what will be expensive hardware. By the way, Virtualization is a word that is used to describe a lot of different things in the IT industry and to give them the flavour of new technology. Now AMD and Intel's Virtualization there is more marketing content than theoretical or technical content in the word.