While the folks at Intel seem to be sure that virtualization on the desktop will be next big thing, nobody seems quite sure just how it will manifest itself.
There are already a half dozen approaches to desktop virtualization. Intel seems to be leaning heavily in the direction of Type 1 hypervisors on the desktop. But at the same time, Intel is working closely with companies such as RingCube Technologies on approaches that essentially capture an entire user environment and manage it as a digital container that can be deployed on any client device.
RingCube is not the only company pushing this user-driven vision of desktop virtualization. AppSense and RES Software also promote user-centric approaches to desktop virtualizaton and management.
According to Charlton Baretto, a technology specialist and principal architect for Intel, the industry will see Intel backing multiple approaches to desktop virtualization. It’s too early to say which approaches will be dominant, said Baretto, and more than likely IT organizations will need a holistic approach to managing all the forms of desktop virtualization.
Barretto says Intel will work with organizations such as the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) to help sort all this out.
 But in the meantime, you can’t help but wonder if all the forms of desktop virtualization that exist in the market today are starting to do more to hamper rather than promote its adoption.
