As I begin to get a handle on all of vmWare's products/services and terminology there's something I wanted to clear up.

Is VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3, the exact same thing as vSphere 4? (with some new features in 4 of course)

Did VMware just change the name to vSphere4 or am I way off?

What about the VI client that's used in VI3? Is that "VI client" the same thing as vSphere4 client?

So if I'm right, then vSphere 4 is technically VI4? Just that they are going with a cooler name?

That's pretty much it. VI3 is ESX/ESX 3.x and vCenter and it was rebranded as vSphere for version 4.0 as part of the whole movement to cloud computing.

VI client = vSphere client.

Thank you, that clears it up. I like the sound of vSphere better, and it's much shorter to say!!

So vSphere/VI3 isn't really an OS, but just the architecture/design of using most of VMware's products? A suite of VMware's products, I guess that's what I'm trying to say...?