A couple of new updates this week on the virtualization front. First comes the news that Microsoft has a made available the first Hyper-V release candidate. Compatibility issues still haunt the software though.

Richard Adhikari at InternetNews reports:

Hyper-V RC 1 is a "feature-complete version with three areas of improvement over the beta release, RC 0 -- improved stability and usability, improved performance, and additional guest operating system and language support," Microsoft said.

But already there are holes in this proclamation: Hyper-V RC 1 doesn't work with Microsoft's own virtual machine (VM) management software, and the only other guest operating systems it supports in addition to Microsoft's are Novell SUSE Linux, which partners with Microsoft.

A day later he brings us news on the MokaFive Virtual Desktop Solution. The draw over VMware: automated VM lifecycle management.

Essentially, MokaFive takes the Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) -- the core virtual layer that separates the hardware from software -- and builds intelligent services around it "so you can move the software from machine to machine, distribute it across the Internet or around the world," Whaley said.

Updates to the master image are automatically sent to users, and here's where it differs from VMware Ace.

"With VMware Ace, you can package up a virtual machine and send that out, but it doesn't handle subsequent updates; if users want to get a new version, they have to go out and download it," Whaley said.

And over at Amy Newman's Virtually Speaking column at ServerWatch, she delves into a cozy new partnership between VMware and Sun, all in the name of thin clients.

Now Sun is partnering with VMware to bring its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution to the Sun Ray system. The Sun Ray is cool. Say what you will about thin clients, but there is much to love about popping a pluggable smartcard into your pocket rather than dragging a bulky laptop around.

On Monday, VMware made a number of announcements centered around thin-client developments and professional services. Among the news to come out of Palo Alto was a glimpse of an integrated desktop solution designed to leverage its VDI platform with Sun Ray Software and virtual display clients.

The Sun Ray system is an ideal candidate for VDI because it is already functioning as such.

If you want up-to-the-minute virtualization news, bookmark the InternetNews virtualization tag.