No, VMware isn't going open source with their core products any time soon -- at least, I don't think so. But there's little question they understand how important it is to have at least one toe in that water. To wit: the VMware View Open Client, an open source app that lets you connect from Linux desktops to remote Windows machines managed by VMware View.

The idea's a clever one. Take your Windows desktops, virtualize them in your data center with VMware, and then access them with Linux thin client machines. It's one way to provision or decommission Windows desktops on the fly -- either as a way to operate on a daily basis or as a transitional measure if you're leaving Windows behind.

I doubt VVOC (or any other hosted-desktop solution) will catch on in places where desktop performance is an absolute must, though -- but most of the likely scenarios such as education don't require the kind of performance needed to run Photoshop (or, for that matter, World of Warcraft).

I also don't expect the other (and wholly open) virtualization solutions to take this lying down. I'd give them six months tops before someone else -- Microsoft themselves, maybe Sun, perhaps even Red Hat as well -- comes up with a similar technology. The only thing better than an open source frontend coupled with a quality backend is open source all the way, and with quality to boot.