I was reading some predictions from IDC:

- The use of Linux paravirtualization will be mostly sizzle -- not steak. Few users are going to substitute their current kernel with a paravirtualized kernel.

- Windows Vista will not uplift the operating system or PC market spending dramatically, but there will be a meaningful shift of adoption favoring premium Windows Vista SKUs.

- Virtualization and security will become focal points for vendors, who will do more to add support for virtualization and managing virtual environments to their service management offerings.

- Software appliances will become a household word in 2007. The convergence of virtual machine technology and an initiative by tool vendors is giving birth to this new form of software packaging.

I thought it would be fun to come up with some predictions of my own...so, here are my top ten predictions for virtualization in 2007:

10. Virtualization will be the key to harnessing the power of multicore technologies

9. Every software company will re-brand their existing product with the word "virtualization"

8. "Virtual appliance" will become a household word (at every virtualization event)

7. There will be at least five more open source hypervisors - the hypervisor will become a commodity

6. Virtualization will save Earth and end global warming

5. Virtualization will expand beyond just servers and into the desktop realm

4. Virtualization will bring portable virtual PCs to everyone - never lose your files, your applications, your OS, secure, carry with you at all times and runs on any PC

3. Paravirtualization will be hardly remembered and will produce blank stare from users.

2. Virtualization will make the OS not matter anymore - after all, the OS is no more than an API for your apps

1. Virtualization technology fully utilizing hardware-assist (i.e. native virtualization) will drive deeper into the enterprise and go mainstream

Happy New Year everybody!