Do my eyes deceive me or did Red Hat just deliver its own smackdown on the virtualization community today? I was wondering when they were going to offer a solution that combined their new acquistion, Qumranet and the KVM product. I don't have to wait any longer.

The products, including the Enterprise Hypervisor have yet to be priced but will be introduced over the next 18 months.

This announcement follows their own original announcement that they've partnered with Microsoft and the Citrix announcement to provide XenServer free of charge.

I love Red Hat but I'm afraid unless they specify a distinct target with their new software, it might pale in comparison to Citrix's free XenServer and their partnership with Microsoft.

Red Hat should focus their products on virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and leave server virtualization to the more experienced VMware and Citrix products. KVM is the ultimate product for desktop virtualization for "heavy" desktops. A heavy virtual desktop is a virtual machine that takes the place of your local desktop operating system.
You can access it from anywhere but it is still a full-sized, running desktop operating system. To power something like that for a large number of desktops, you have to use a special protocol like SPICE, Qumranet's proprietary remote desktop software.

Will this announcement and product line hurt their newly forged relationship with Microsoft? No. The Citrix/Microsoft relationship is the one that delivers the fatal blow to the Red Hat/Microsoft relationship.

Congratulations, Red Hat, I hope it isn't too little--too late. I'm taking away your Gold Star too.