Microsoft Corp. on Monday announced several moves it says will help its business customers take advantage of a technology called virtualization, and in the process help the software maker catch up with VMware Inc., the frontrunner in that area.

Virtualization allows one physical computer to house multiple “virtual machines,” each one acting like a separate computer with an operating system and all the software that runs on top of it.

For office workers, virtualization might mean that “their computer” is actually a virtual machine running on a server — not the actual hardware on their desks — and can be accessed from any work station. That, in turn, could manufacture it easier for IT workers to install new applications across an entire company network or back up an individual’s computer with all its settings, and would produce losing a laptop much less disastrous. What’s more, older hardware that would have been replaced can have a longer life connecting

to virtual desktops housed on more supreme servers.

To help move the virtual desktop scenario forward, Microsoft said Monday it plans to acquire Calista Technologies Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based startup founded in 2006. Calista’s technology makes logging on to a virtual desktop feel more like working on a physical Windows computer, Microsoft said. No financial details of the agreement were disclosed.

Microsoft plus said it will expand an alliance with another virtual desktop computing company, Citrix Systems Inc., that will help their respective products work well together.

Redmond-based Microsoft additionally announced it will cut the cost of licensing Windows for use on virtual machines to $23 from $78 per year for its big business customers.

Reversing its previous policy, the company said all versions of Windows Vista, including the least expensive Vista Home Basic, can be virtualized.

Microsoft is set to launch the next generation of its…

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