It was bound to happen eventually. Somebody, somewhere, was going to see the light and snatch-up the last of the original virtualization pioneers, Innotek, makers of the VirtualBox Virtual Machine platform for Windows, Linux and Macintosh systems. That somebody is Sun Microsystems. And based on the wording of their press release, I'm convinced they did so for all the right reasons. For starters, they recognize t It was bound to happen eventually. Somebody, somewhere, was going to see the light and snatch-up the last of the original virtualization pioneers, Innotek, makers of the VirtualBox Virtual Machine platform for Windows, Linux and Macintosh systems.That somebody is Sun Microsystems. And based on the wording of their press release, I’m convinced they did so for all the right reasons.For starters, they recognize that Innotek’s strength is in the desktop space. Though the German virtualization developer has been working on some more server-centric models (including at least one 32-core implementation), they’re greatest success has been as a low or no-cost alternative to VMware Workstation and Microsoft Virtual PC. But perhaps even more important is Sun’s recognition of Innotek’s commitment to developers. VirtualBox has long been the preferred solution for open-source programmers seeking to “roll their own” virtualization platforms. The combination of componentization (virtually every layer of VirtualBox can be scripted or accessed programmatically) and GNU public licensing of the VirtualBox source code makes for an attractive package that Sun can use to further its own FOSS goals.So, congratulations (I seem to be saying that a lot lately) to Innotek, and a hearty “bravo!” to Sun for seeing the value in VirtualBox and its potential as a building block for a robust Desktop virtualization strategy. Software DevelopmentSmall and Medium Business