With VMware on top of the virtualization world and Microsoft poised to enter it, you may be curious what all the buzz is about. Not only does server virtualization allow a single physical server to host many virtual servers running different operating systems, it can cut costs, reduce energy use and de-clutter hardware spaces. VMware has been the market leader in this space, although Microsoft’s Hyper-V is set to be added to Windows Server 2008 later this year.

SoftwareMedia is now a VMware Professional Partner ready to evaluate your business’ virtualization needs and provide you with a VMwareTotal Cost of Ownership (TCO) report. This report will show you your cost as well as your projected “big picture” savings. Simply fill out the TCO form and a sales rep will contact you.

Microsoft has announced plans to support new file formats for Office with Service Pack 2, including Open Document Format (ODF), Portable Document Format (PDF), and XML Paper Specification (XPS). In the past, Microsoft has created add-ons for users to be able to convert these files. But with these formats becoming more popular, it has gone one step further to build support directly into Office. With this announcement, the European Commission said that it will investigate the affect the move will have on consumer choice. “The Commission will investigate whether the announced support of Open Document Format in Office leads to better interoperability and allows consumers to process and exchange their documents with the software product of their choice,” the commission said in a statement reported by Dow Jones. Office 2007 Service Pack 2 is not expected until sometime in the first half of next year.

Microsoft Office Labs, a new effort by the company, allows them to test productivity ideas before they are officially ready for prime time. With Office Labs, one can try out small features to new product concepts. The goal is to get good feedback early on before putting projects into full effect. This month Microsoft is going public with two new projects: Search Commands and Community Clips. Search Commands allows Office users to search for the commands they want to use, rather than having to use the new ribbon interface. Community Clips is an attempt to create user help videos. In all, Microsoft is working on about 10 ideas or so, but the remainder are in the planning stages.

An investment firm that owns a majority stake in Corel Corporation has offered to acquire the remaining shares and take the company private, again. This would be the second time in five years. Just two weeks after this announcement, CEO of three years David Dobson announced his resignation. Dobson left to take a job at a Fortune 500 company in the U.S. This news comes shortly after Corel’s X4 software release, and within a year of its acquisition of smaller vendors like WinZip and Ulead. Corel’s profits were up 25% year over year and they are predicting a profit in its second quarter.