Mike Neil, Microsoft's general manager of Virtualization Strategy announced in his blog on Thursday that Microsoft will delay its virtualization beta. Neil wrote in his blog entry:

"As the person who oversees the development plans, teams and strategy for Microsoft’s virtualization software on desktops and servers, I want to update everyone on the timing of our server virtualization offerings. I know that many of our customers and partners will hear of these changes from their usual Microsoft contacts, but I wanted to personally explain some of the reasons behind the new schedule for Windows Server virtualization (codename Viridian) and Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1. But first, here’s where we stand today:

The public beta of Windows Server virtualization will ship in the second half of 2007, not in the first half as previously disclosed.

The final version of Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 now will be available in Q2, not Q1 as previously stated. In the interim, customers and partners can download a Release Candidate (RC) version later this month - this is code complete and an update to the current beta 2."

Mike Neil is senior director for virtualization strategy in the Windows Server Division at Microsoft. Mike is focused on the delivery of the Windows virtualization technology, including the Windows hypervisor, as part of Windows Server "Longhorn" and directing Microsoft's broader vision for virtualization. Prior to this role, Mike was the product unit manager for Microsoft's virtualization efforts since 2003. Virtual PC and Virtual Server are the client and server virtualization products from Microsoft that allow customers to run two or more operating systems simultaneously on one physical machine.

Mike joined Microsoft as part of Microsoft's February 2003 acquisition of Connectix Corp. While at Connectix, Mike was the vice president of engineering and worked on the original team that developed Virtual PC Mac, allowing Apple Macintosh computers to run Windows. After attending the University of Michigan, Mike joined Apple culminating as the integration and technical lead for Apple's OS project code named Copland.