Microsoft Corp. announced several moves it says will help 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 housemultiple 'virtual machines', each one acting like a separate computer with an operating system and all the software that runs on top of it.

For office workers, virtualization might mean that their computer is actually a virtual machine running on a server - not the actual hardware on their desks - and can be accessed from any work station. That, in turn, could make it easier for IT workers to install new applications across an entire company network or back up an individual's computer with all its settings, and would make losing a laptop much less disastrous. What's more, older hardware that would have been replaced can have a longer life connecting to virtual desktops housed on more powerful servers.

To help move the virtual desktop scenario forward, Microsoft it plans to acquire Cali~ Technologies Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-basel startup founded in 2006. Calista's technology makes logging on to a virtual desktop feel more like working on a physic 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 war! well together.