Upgrading Windows XP desktops to Vista is a major investment for many firms with the costs of Vista licenses and updating PC hardware, which ultimately results in only a marginal improvement to baseline functionality.

It seems the situation is not lost on customers. A Computer Business Review survey reports that less than 2 percent of UK-based firms have upgraded. And Ina Fried, a Staff Writer for CNET News.com, recently reported that, "While Microsoft is still pushing Vista hard, the company is quietly allowing PC makers to offer a 'downgrade' option to buyers that get machines with the new operating system but want to switch to Windows XP."

Perhaps the better alternative is Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (Sun VDI) Software, which offers a highly-secure platform for accessing virtualized Microsoft Windows desktop environments from a wide variety of client devices. It can be installed on the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS) and Linux.

Combining the Sun VDI software with VMware Infrastructure software provides each user with a dedicated virtual machine that is isolated from other users and customized to their needs. Each virtual desktop functions as though it were running directly on the user's computer. Users can access their desktop environments from traditional PCs such as Windows and Mac OS X computers, as well as thin clients from Sun and other vendors.

Applications are consolidated at the data center, making the job of managing them easier for the systems administrator. Critical data is kept in the data center where it is less susceptible to loss or theft. Many desktop environments can be hosted on a single server. IT managers can set up new users, workgroups or departments in just minutes, controlling and managing desktops and updates centrally, all of which helps reduce costs normally associated with a traditional distributed desktop model.

With Vista added into a managed Sun VDI environment, desktop management strategies are addressed along with improved security and flexibility for users and IT managers. [...read more...]

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