VMWare has a Y2K8 bug?

Just a quick news update for those of you who haven't heard, it seems that VMWare's update to ESX 3.5u2 has left all servers running the software inoperable. According to a news article from The Register in the UK, the issues began when clocks rolled over to August 12th this morning. However, to be clear, this issue is not present in any of VMWare's lower end software appliances (Workstation, Server, Player).

While it may not affect the users who use VMWare on their home machine, this does have the potential to scar the trust that larger business ventures have placed in VMWare's software. In the larger networks used today, virtualization is playing a large and almost unimaginable role in consolidating hardware resources. If VMWare intends to be a major player in virtualization, what kind of damage does this bug do to their reputation? How about long term? A company worried about coding incompetence will not likely make the same mistake twice.

On the other hand, the irony is that VMWare is not the only software company who has made coding mistakes. When Microsoft made Service Pack 1's release candidate available for Windows Vista, a good sized number of customers were left with an unbootable machine (TechNet). Yet, despite coding mistakes that Microsoft has made, Microsoft has still managed to keep Windows on the majority of PCs on the market. Why?

The answer: Microsoft lacks a serious threat to its empire. Therefore, accidents are easily overlooked. VMWare on the other hand, is in direct competition with Microsoft's HyperV and other virtualization products. It'll be interesting to see how this bug has hurt VMWare's position in the coming months.