Why keep spinning your wheels trying to secure the users' desktop.  Why not virtualize the desktop and then just throw them away?  This article posts an interesting idea - if we can't stop users from clicking on the wrong links or going to compromised websites and we can’t eliminate drive-by worm infections or block zero-day rootkits - pitch the machine instead. 

There’s one sure way to get rid of it: Throw away the PC. That’s expensive — at least, if you're actually throwing away the hardware. Or you can throw away just the software by reimaging the hard drive; no hardware cost there, but it still chews up time and manpower.

But what if users are working on a virtualised PC, or at least a virtualised browser? Then throwing it out is trivial. So is replacing it with a fresh, uncluttered, uninfected version. Virtual IT is built to be disposable.

OK, you’ve heard about this virtualisation magic before. But it seems too good to be true, it sounds complicated and expensive, and users will scream bloody murder if you take away their real PCs and web browsers.

There’s a good reason to take a close look at it now, though.

Last month at the DemoFall conference in San Diego, I saw two companies trotting out virtualisation products. One, Qumranet, was showing a system that lets users do self-provisioning of virtual PCs. The other, Check Point, had consumer software for virtualising web browsers. Products from other vendors can’t be far behind.

Qumranet’s Solid ICE is corporate software that should be out by the end of the year, and they won’t talk about pricing yet. But Check Point’s ZoneAlarm ForceField will retail for US$29.95 early next year for home users.

That’s not complicated and expensive. It’s cheap, and as a consumer product, it’s got to be easy.

Read the entire ComputerWorld article, here.