The SCO Group, Inc., (Pink Sheets: SCOXQ) a leading provider of UNIX((R)) software technology and mobility solutions, today announced that it has released OpenServer 5.0.7V, a virtualized version of its popular UNIX operating system that is optimized for the VMware environment. OpenServer 5.0.7V gives customers a familiar environment while increasing the power and efficiency of a virtualized infrastructure. With OpenServer's renowned stability and reliability, now available in a virtualized environment, customers can avoid costly migration and retooling costs in order to take advantage of newer hardware and applications.

"With OpenServer 507V, SCO is protecting our customer's investment in their OpenServer applications by extending their life cycle without the need to migrate," said Jeff Hunsaker, president and chief operating officer, SCO Operations. "This provides a superior Total Cost of Ownership to an OpenServer 5 application while at the same time taking advantage of the significant performance gains with new modern hardware. We expect, in the near future, to release virtualized versions for OpenServer 6 and UnixWare 7.1.4 as well."

OpenServer 5.0.7V is released as a Virtual Appliance image that can be easily imported onto VMware ESX 3.5, VMware ESXi 3.5 and VMware Workstation 6.5.2 for Windows((R)) platforms. Importation of the Virtual Appliance usually takes between 10 and 60 minutes to complete, depending on configuration, and configuration of the imported Virtual Appliance takes a further 5-10 minutes. Once installed, the system behaves just like a natively-installed OpenServer 5.0.7 system with all of the latest maintenance installed. For convenience, many of the VMware tools have also been included to improve integration between SCO OpenServer 5.0.7V and the host VMware system.

"Using SCO OpenServer 5.0.7 as a base, SCO Engineering has built an optimized Virtual Appliance for VMware," said Andy Nagle, senior director of development, The SCO Group. "This Virtual Appliance uses a subset of existing and updated device drivers that provides optimal performance in a virtual environment."