Not that it’s a bad thing, but it’s at least consistent. 

I read this article today talking about how IBM are offering trial licenses for pre-installed VMWare servers w/ the purchase of their blade servers.  I think it’s a decent-enough idea:  as an advocate of VMWare’s products, I think they’re on to something.  Once you start using them, you’ll see just how far ahead of the market that they are.

InfoWorld: IBM bundles VMware apps: March 28, 2005: By Ed Scannell : APPLICATIONS : DATA_MANAGEMENT : PLATFORMS : STORAGE:
IBM bundles VMware apps
Blades come with virtual software

By  Ed Scannell
March 28, 2005

VMware (Profile, Products, Articles) said it will bundle evaluation copies of its virtual-infrastructure software line with IBM’s (Profile, Products, Articles) Intel (Profile, Products, Articles)-based eServer BladeCenter servers.

Corporate users buying a BladeCenter server will receive bundled evaluation copies of VMware’s suite that are good for six  months. At the end of that period, users decide whether to buy the suite, which includes VMware ESX Server, VMware Virtual  SMP, and VMware VirtualCenter with VMotion.

VMotion is an INCREDIBLE technology that lets you shift a virtual machine from one physical box to another, just in case the physical dies….. all live.  VERY slick stuff.  If you’re looking to consolidate, take a look at the ESX server.