VMware also benefits by creating even more demand for its cloud-level operating system, and staves off competitors that also want to create meta-server environments, like Microsoft.
If more horsepower is needed, then the user can quickly switch into the main operating system, which Cloud continues to load in the background.
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"We are defining a new era of convergence in technology, with one unified operating system that underpins cloud computing, data centers, PCs and consumer electronics" says Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu and VP Products at Canonical.
ENGADGET: Canonical announces Ubuntu for smartphones, we go hands-on (video)
"Talking about the cloud and the new update of the operating system for the iPhone and iPad, it's looking more and more like he (Mr Jobs) wants these devices, particularly the iPad to do the work we once did on our PCs, " he added.
The closer we get to the cloud, the less important our choice of operating system.
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Google, of course, supplies the operating system and many of the cloud services and software, the rest coming from Google partners.
In bringing Ubuntu to the phone, Canonical is uniquely placed with a single operating system for client, server and cloud, and a unified family of interfaces for the phone, the PC and the TV.
ENGADGET: Canonical announces Ubuntu for smartphones, we go hands-on (video)
For CIOs, there is no upgrading your operating system across your company as with Microsoft Windows, since Google handles everything from the cloud.
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Cloud may be a workable approach, however, if only one of these elements (hardware, operating system, or application layer) are based on custom technology.
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Just as with the Linux operating system, which started small with certain workloads, then expanded into large deployments, migrating to the cloud is likely to be an iterative process, with several learning cycles.
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