VMware is familiar to control the world of server virtualization, but its efforts to become the in effect virtualization seller on the desktop haven't gone fairly also.

Almost two years after VMware proclaimed its "vClient" proposal to give customers a variety of server-hosted and client-hosted practical desktop options, VMware has unsuccessful to deliver one of the initiative's key technologies.

Whereas VMware presents server-hosted desktops by VMware View, its virtual desk infrastructure (VDI) product, the corporation proclaimed in September 2008 that it would as well deliver "Client Virtualization," as well identified as a exposed-metal desktop hypervisor.

Client hypervisors permit desktops to run in a virtual machine installed straight on a user's laptop, quite than in a server within the data center. The approach permits centralized management of desktops, whereas potentially giving users better performance than VDI technologies that need applications to run on remote servers.

Client hypervisors might allow "bring-your-own-PC-to-work" situation by letting user machines host one desktop for private applications and a divide desktop environment for work applications.

By January 2009, competitor Citrix proclaimed that it was working on its own client hypervisor. At the time, a VMware spokesperson predictable that VMware's client virtualization, yet in development, would be launched in the second half of 2009.Both Citrix and VMware resist to distribute client hypervisors within their self-imposed timelines, but Citrix strike VMware to the market in May of this year with XenClient.