Wyse, VMware Split the Desktop from the PC

Wyse Technologies and VMware are doing the dance of the virtualized desktop.

Wyse on August 2 rolled out hardware designed to support WMware’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, software that allows companies to host and distribute a Microsoft Windows XP desktop environment located on a server to employees’ desktops.

The two technology companies, along with several others that are part of the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Alliance to promote virtualized desktops, are envisioning an IT world where desktops aren’t necessarily deployed in PCs anymore.

Instead, the essence of a machine—its user interface, applications and data—is virtualized and hosted on a server, which essentially broadcasts that environment to a user, who can access it with a range of inexpensive hardware.

The approach, which keeps data stored on a server, provides more protection for data and lowers management costs versus PCs and offers a broader range of applications than traditional “thin-clients” that work with Microsoft or Citrix software, the companies said.

“The core idea of having these virtual desktops—that they are always on and you can access them from anywhere on the network or even at home—is very compelling for users and very easy for IT to manage,” said Jeff McNaught, vice president of marketing and customer support at Wyse in San Jose, Calif.

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