Tim Landgraves, the RD from Louisville, forwarded this to me this morning.

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

EMC to Acquire VMware, Advancing Convergence of Server and Storage Virtualization

HOPKINTON, Mass. & PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 2003--EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), the world leader in information storage and management, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Palo Alto-based VMware, Inc., a rapidly growing, privately held software company and the world leader in Intel-based virtual computing software, in a cash transaction valued at approximately $635 million. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and is expected to be completed early in the first quarter of 2004.

The acquisition of VMware will play a key role in EMC's strategy to help customers lower their costs and simplify their operations by deploying virtualization technologies across their heterogeneous IT infrastructure to create a single pool of available storage and computing resources. This "Virtual Information Infrastructure" will enable organizations to dynamically configure and reconfigure their compute and storage environments with no downtime as their business needs change. EMC expects VMware's leadership in server virtualization, together with EMC's innovation in storage virtualization, will serve as a strong foundation for next-generation information lifecycle management solutions.

VMware's technology enables multiple operating systems -- including Microsoft Windows, Linux and NetWare -- to run simultaneously and independently on the same Intel-based server or workstation and dynamically move live applications across systems with no business disruption. These "virtual machines" integrate seamlessly into existing physical infrastructures and management frameworks, allowing users to see resources as if they were dedicated to them, while administrators manage and optimize those resources globally across the enterprise…