VMware has taken on the distinct scent of Microsoft again.

It just hired another ex-Microsoftie for its senior ranks.

Besides CEO Paul Maritz and second-in-command, COO Tod Nielsen, both Microsoft émigrés, there's now chief development officer and EVP Richard McAniff, late corporate VP of Microsoft Office, a Redmond veteran of 21 years standing.

He will be responsible for R&D across both VMware's server and desktop units and report to Maritz, whose game is to keep ahead of Microsoft technologically speaking.

At Microsoft McAniff was responsible for Excel and Access, oversaw the Business Intelligence effort in Office as well as the development of web components for the SharePoint Portal Server. McAniff also helped guide the development of Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2007. Before picking up his corporate VP chevrons, he was general manager of Visual Basic.

Prior to joining Microsoft in 1987, McAniff, 59, was a member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories.