Grid computing has attracted a lot of attention recently as companies have begun to promote the concept of accessing unlimited computing power from anywhere in the world as easily as users now log on to the Internet. While that sounds revolutionary, it's really an incremental step with a great deal of developmental history behind it. In fact, enterprises of all types are already using a simple form of grid computing within their firewalls to economically meet processing needs.
Microsoft successfully made the leap from desktop dominance to grabbing a hefty share of the server operating system market. Now the vendor is setting its sights on high-performance workstations and servers.