VMware's still trying to encourage upgrades to version 6.0 and 6.5 of its vSphere platform, but that hasn't stopped it from working on a new version too.

The Register understands that new effort will likely emerge as vSphere 6.7 and probably appear in the second quarter of 2018 now that a beta program announced in October 2017 has all-but wound up.

As VMware's previously promised, the new version won't be a biggie.

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The Register's virtualization desk understands the headline features will include live vMotion of GPU-reliant workloads, which will make them more resilient. There'll also be some tweaks to VVOLs, VMware's storage virtualization code, to make it play nice with the VMware file system and Microsoft's cluster services.

We've also heard credible commentary to the effect that VMware will signal an end to support for older Intel and AMD CPUs, but may add more granular access to a CPU's features for each guest VM. We've also heard rumblings about new VM encryption features.

Whatever's inside, even considering the beta was conducted under a non-disclosure agreement, it's not generating much enthusiasm. Two holders of the VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) certification, VMware's peak professional rank, told us they didn't bother signing up for the beta and found it lacking in excitement respectively.

Which may not alarm VMware at all: the company's happily adopted a cloud-first, on-premises later development strategy that will see incremental improvements to its products land in its AWS implementation before they arrive in conventionally packaged products. ®