Microsoft leads industry discussion on the state of Desktop Virtualization

Today at 9 a.m., we?re hosting a customer roundtable to discuss how desktop virtualization can help solve some of the most pressing business challenges.  Gartner?s Mike Silver will lead us in a discussion joined by three of our customers, including Kraft Foods, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., and LogIn Consultants.

During the roundtable, these customers will talk about how desktop virtualization can help them deliver real business results, including accelerating their Windows 7 migrations. They will also explore some common trends fueling the need for desktop virtualization:

• The need for flexibility to ensure employees are productive no matter where they?re located
• Our panelists will discuss how they are migrating to Windows 7 and are using desktop virtualization to help speed this up. 
• The need to simplify and centralize corporate data and control employee access

  As the conversation continues, these customers will recap their experiences with Microsoft desktop virtualization products, complemented by solutions from partners such as Citrix, and close with their final advice to their industry colleagues. Clearly, each business is unique so there isn?t a one size fits all solution. As expressed by the customer panelists, companies want a flexible desktop virtualization approach that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of their business, employees and customers.

  By design, the Microsoft approach is different than others? in the industry. We?re focused on providing a breadth of solutions to meet a diverse set of business challenges.  Our goal is to make sure our technology is flexible to fit virtualization into your broader desktop and management strategy. By providing technology that gives you the foundation for centralized and integrated management, no matter what your approach, we can help you effectively and efficiently manage your physical and virtual technology assets via unified and centralized infrastructure.

  We?re also announcing several updates to our desktop virtualization technologies to help you address a wide range of issues. This news builds on the traction we?ve made over the last year including the availability of MED-V 2.0 and App-V 4.6 SP1.

  A few things to call out relative to this news:

  With App-V 4.6 SP1, we?re making the process of virtualizing applications easier and faster. 

  • Package Accelerators are a new capability with App-V, which I think is the most exciting aspect of this news. The Package Accelerators give IT pros and ISVs a way to covert traditional applications directly into App-V. Basically, it speeds up application packaging and App-V deployment, making the move to Windows 7 all the more easier.
  • In April, we?ll provide Package Accelerators for Project, Adobe Reader and Office 2010
  • We?re also updating our licensing for App-V, starting April 1st, so hosters can deliver Microsoft Dynamics from the cloud using App-V (this will be part of our App-V Service Provider Licensing Agreement).

  With MED-V 2.0, we?ve made it even easier to use and simple to deploy by integrating with existing management systems such as System Center Configuration Manager or third party deployment and management tools. MED-V 2.0 is a great way to resolve any legacy application issues and to get up and running on Windows 7 quickly. 

  App-V 4.6 SP1 and MED-V 2.0 are available now as part of MDOP 2011. For more information, please visit the MDOP blog.

  We also mentioned earlier this week we would have some updates to share around Windows Thin PC (WinTPC), a locked down version of Windows 7, designed for you to repurpose your existing PCs as thin clients, so you can get the most out of your hardware investments. We?re excited to let you know that it is scheduled to be released by the end of this month. UPDATE: We?re excited to let you know that a WinTPC Customer Technology Preview (CTP) is scheduled to be released by the end of this month.

  I encourage you to check out today?s webcast as well as a discussion with Microsoft and Citrix leaders discussing trends and technology integration between the two companies.   We hope you find the event informative and welcome your questions during the live Q&A.

  For more information on Microsoft?s Desktop Virtualization solutions, please visit www.microsoft.com/dv.

Mariah OBrien Uma Thurman Alice Dodd Kate Walsh Autumn Reeser