Moving towards a single machine

I've just posted up my thoughts about the Solaris release that came out last year and includes, among other improvements, BrandZ.

One of the interesting things about BrandZ is that it lets you run Linux binaries without requiring Linux, and without requiring the traditional virtualization tools like Parallels, or VMware. Basically it creates and interface between Solaris and the Linux binary that makes the environment look like the Linux kernel and libraries.

With the combination of virtualization in Solaris and BrandZ, and with the virtualization now being offered in Windows Server 2008, I'm beginning to wonder if choosing your main operating systems will soon become a moot point.

Even with Mac OS X, Parallels, and particularly the new Parallels Virtual Server (which is brilliant, albeit with some issues), you no longer need to think about a single machine/OS combination. More to the point, with multicore machines spreading, having a single, powerful, multi CPU and multi-OS system without the performance problems is becoming easier and easier.