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Software translation of Macintosh applications designed for the PowerPC platform will let old program run on the Intel Mac.

Part of a software package called Rosetta will be technology enabling users to run their old apps on the upcoming new Intel-based Macintosh machines. That technology will be provided by Transitive Technologies.

This will be a solution based on the concept of hardware virtualization. By creating a software layer that mimics a hardware platform, applications can run and communicate with the virtual layer. The virtualization can run on an entirely different platform, in Apple's case a PowerPC virtual layer on top of the actual Intel platform.

The overall Rosetta package will run existing OS X programs on the new Intel platforms. Rosetta will not run programs designed for OS 8 or 9.

Virtualization solutions from companies like Transitive and Xensource will figure in the plans of companies besides Apple. As HP transitions from PA-RISC to Itanium chips in its systems, it will probably need to support legacy applications.

That situation will confront other companies too. While virtualization concepts have existed for some time, the memory required to run them used to be far more expensive than it is today. The lower cost of memory makes virtualization a more reasonable possibility for businesses.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.