VMware seems to have ditched the product name “3i” and silently introduced “ESXi”. I noticed it when the download page was updated today. But you can also read it on the “product section” of the VMware website. I think this is a better name instead of differentiation in versions, keeping the versions alligned and changing the name makes more sense to me and probably most customers.
Besides this they’ve also ditched the “server” part in VMware ESX Server, for more info check out the blog by John Troyer!
I always thought the “3i” name was not a great idea. Considering I have been able to play with it since mid last year (OEM) I knew what it was. However what I heard a lot in customer briefings was confusion. I would tell them about 3.02, 3.5, and 3i. They would always ask about the 3.i naming. They thought it was related to 3.02 not 3.5.
Well at least they are not calling it VIi 😉