I have to give some kudos to Paul Maritz and VMware for this. Yes, they screwed up and they owned up to it. I was impressed where he pointed out the two areas VMware failed in the process.

It is refreshing that a comapny actually takes responsibility for the bad as well as the good.

I think it is vital that VMWare learn that it is RELIABILITY that puts them head and shoulders above other providers of virtualisation.

I have had production services running for several years without interuption on ESX 2.5.x and even GSX.

Even before this current problem the 3.0/3.5 releases have been a little less stable than the older versions which I can only attribute to a pressure to get new and marketable features out the door as fast as possible.

I would much rather wait an extra few months for extra features so I can be secure in the knowledge that it won't blow up on me.

I appreciate that VM have more competition than before but I would imagine that yesterdays events will not have helped them and will have been a champagne day for their competition's sales teams.

Obviously there is a burden on us end users to test our patching before putting critical services on it - but I can't imagine that many people test the consequences of rolling clocks back and forwards before applying a release?

Not just publicly, but quickly and efficiently as well. This shouldn't have happened in the first place, but at least they put fourth the effort and made the change and everything seems to be working.

Not like SOME companies which shall rename nameless (Intel -- P60 Pentium) they saw fit to dodge it first, THEN address once someone proved they were at fault.

I saw VM Ware did the right thing and they deserve aknowledgement for a 24 hr turn around on a wide spread problem.

And how much about progamming do you know? Apparently NONE.

In the first place you posted this SAME EXACT message 3 times. WE SAW it the first 2 times, how many more times do you need to post that same message..

We KNOW it was a bug. No one targeted you because you were using "FREE" version. The BUG was affecting ALL the code. Like Tom said EVERY company puts a built in limit on their software at some point. (Set your date ahead on your computer about 5 years and see what happens to Windows....). It's called "life cycle".

VM Ware just missed it in QA. They made a mistake, they fixed it, so how many more times are you goig to bash them over the head over it? You made your point, now can you manage to come up with something original and not copy / paste previous posts?

If there was a primary example of "hot air" Microsoft has been the subject of ridicule for 2 decades now.. and they are STILL here. People like to complain, it doesn't mean they will ACTUALLY follow through, and go with something else. Once they realize that there isn't a better alternative, they will calm down. M$ $ucks, Windows is junk.. Yeah well why are you still using it?!?!?

BRAND X in this case is FAR behind VM Ware.. I am not worried. For one thing its like that old saying "There is no such thing as bad press...". If anything VM Ware will get MORE recognition.. This will only hurt the sales for August. September will be record sales... you watch, because.. they FIXED the problem, and it's like ValuJet.. they were scrutinized by the FCC for years.. they finally changed their name.. and How many problems have you seen from Airtran. Almost NONE!

So fixing a process is a wake up call, and the industry will realize this. No one is going to forget this for some time, but HOW you handle adversity is the challenge.

"The mettle of a company is tempered in the fires of adversity".

This is VM Ware's uppercut.. they may have been knocked to the canvass, but WHEN they get back up.. that's when you should take notice. VM Ware will be stronger from this, and we will get better process and certifications as a result.

This is just going to make it more difficult to sell the virtualization strategy on folks who do not want to put all their eggs (VM Guests) in one basket (ESX Host). We have many folks in this mindset.

Hmmm....I noticed something. Here's your quote..."we will get better process and certifications as a result."
You work for VMWare?

Personally I am impressed with the letter. Being fairly new to the whole VMware world, I am glad to hear someone admit mistakes, and take action to fix it. I worked half a dozen years in the support department for one of the primary backup software companies, and too often code was rushed out the door when it wasn't ready, and there was no response from management, when backups were lost, unable to be restored or cause major issues. Developers make mistakes, sometimes it was their fault other time QA people didn't have the time do really do a good job before being told, "well, it's been released now anyway" I definately saw a major version be released that was nowhere ready (sort of reminds me of vista :D).

Personally I wouldn't rush to move away from VMWare as we have had largely good experience until now - but this one has certainly shaken my confidence a little. It also makes it far harder to push for further virtualisation when talking to non-technical people who have just read about this problem and don't have the hands on positive past experiences to offset it.

I think the biggest casualty will be those companies planning to enter the market rather than those already involved - a lot of directors perhaps suggesting that their staff at least examine other options before adopting VM and so on.

Also you can assume that the segment of the market represented by the angrier posters might well not flee VMWare today but those people aren't going to be acting as in-house salesmen for the product as they have been during it's rise from infancy to today - reading between the lines they feel some personal betrayal which may not be 100% logical but will still have a negative impact on VMWare's bottom line

M$ can pull this type of stunt - they have the market dominance to get away with it, mores the pity. I'm not sure VMWare are in that position.

The response to this issue was initially very slow but accelerated as VM became more aware of just how seriously this was being taken - credit for that and getting the patch out earlier than originally stated. It also installed well for me although I'll be keeping a closer than usual eye on the farm for a few weeks.

We'll just have to let the dust settle a bit and see if the recent niggles with the product go away and we can return to trusting the product to do it's thing while we think of new ways to make 100% uptime sound interesting in the monthly reports!