"Most likely this would be to run things such as MS SQL Server, MS Exchange and other 'server' software. Not an end-user GUI session. Just like most z/Linux users are not running X applications. They are running 'servers' such as e-mail, web,

WAS, etc," wrote poster John McKown.

The little information available on z/VOS from Mantissa doesn't give any hint whether the software will support both the Windows client and server operating systems.

In terms of licensing issues, Mantissa's Dennis doesn't see anything out of the ordinary with current virtualization licensing.

"We don't see anything in the Microsoft EULA that would permit or cause them to treat this environment any different than existing VM environments. This environment should work in their favor since the images (and therefore the licenses) can be deployed more efficiently than in a blade warehouse environment," Dennis wrote on the discussion list.