VMware has just announced Workstation for the Mac. Their slogan is, “Love your Mac, and have your PC too”.

This is announcement was timed to correspond with the opening of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA.

The new version is not yet available, in fact VMware is only now allowing “pre-registration” for the upcomming beta test of the product. Here’s the link to register:

http://vmware.rsc02.net/servlet/campaignrespondent?_ID_=vmwi.1756

At the same time, Microsoft announced that they would not be following suit.

I’d personally be more excited if Apple’s future did not include a total migration from the PowerPC architecture to Intel. I’ve used PowerPC based systems for years, and have always found them much more powerful. However, they are more costly and Apple does need to compete in the marketplace.

One thing I am excited about is eweek’s article on the 25 most influential products in the last 25 years. VMware ranked number 7 and the Linux kernel number 6, while Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows 95 listed 23 and 24. Here’s the full list:

1. 1. The IBM PC
2. 2. Mosaic Web Browser
3. 3. Apache
4. 4. Intel i386 Processor
5. 5. XNS
6. 6. The Linux Kernel
7. 7. VMware x86 Virtualization
8. 8. Apple Macintosh
9. 9. PGP
10. 10. Compaq Portable
11. 11. Adobe PDF and Acrobat
12. 12. Lotus 1-2-3
13. 13. Cisco IOS
14. 14. Ashton-Tate dBase II
15. 15. Palm Pilot
16. 16. Linksys 802.11 Routers
17. 17. Shiva LanRover
18. 18. Phoenix BIOS
19. 19. Red Hat Linux
20. 20. Microsoft Visual Basic
21. 21. Network General Sniffer
22. 22. Lotus Notes
23. 23. Windows 95
24. 24. Microsoft Office
25. 25. Nessus

You can read the VMware Workstation press release here:

http://www.vmware.com/news/releases/mac.html