New software lets Linux, Windows coexist

VMware, a company whose software can let people run several operating systems at once on the same computer, has updated its product for the new 2.4 version of the Linux kernel, the company will announce this month. The new version of VMWare works under the latest versions of Linux from Red Hat, SuSE and Mandrake.

VMware lets Linux computers run Windows or vice versa. It also lets technical support staff run several different versions of Windows simultaneously. The company has begun selling a version of the software for servers as well, enabling one networked computer to be split into several independent computers. VMware is being funded by the National Security Agency--the U.S. government's electronic espionage organization--to work on software that keeps classified information on a computer in separate, protected partitions. Dell Computer invested in VMware a year ago.