VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, today demonstrated the future of desktop computing to more than 4,500 attendees at VMworld Europe.

Across the globe customers who have standardized on VMware for server virtualization are now poised to bring the benefits of virtualization to the desktop.  By extending the VMware platform to the desktop, IT administrators can deploy virtual machines on every PC and deliver a complete desktop experience that is easy to manage, fast to deploy, less costly to maintain, always-current and radically more secure.

Virtual machines deployed on desktops are protected from disaster, disruption, attack, or theft and are therefore the best environments in which to run applications and store user files and data.  In addition, VMware virtual desktops are always-current because thousands of virtual machines can be updated instantly from the datacenter without touching a single desktop.  Workforces running VMware virtual desktops get a full PC experience both online and offline, allowing them to work from anywhere and be more productive.

"Virtualization is fundamentally changing the desktop and providing a better way to manage the desktop experience," said Jeff Jennings, vice president of desktop products and solutions at VMware.  "VMware virtual desktops enable a one-to-many deployment model, making it easy to update to a new version of an application, rollout entirely new applications, or deploy the most current operating system.  VMware is also making it possible for workers to take their virtual desktops with them as they travel or work from home."

Traditional distributed desktop computing -- where everyone in a company has her or his own PC or laptop loaded with applications and data -- is costly to own, complex and time-consuming to manage, and can be impossible to secure.  By virtualizing desktops -- that is, deploying them in a virtual machine that's managed from within the datacenter where they are easier and more cost-effective to manage -- IT staff can quickly provision new desktops to employees, wherever they are, flexibly and efficiently.

Analyst firm IDC predicts the total market for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products and services will exceed $1 billion by 2011.

In keynote presentations at VMworld Europe today, VMware will showcase three advances in desktop virtualization that allow organizations to scale virtual desktop deployments to thousands of users at once and let task workers access desktops and applications both online and offline:

• Scalable Virtual Image technology - allows organizations to quickly deploy, update, and publish desktop images to thousands of virtual machines, accomplishing many tasks in just minutes that previously took hours with physical PCs.  Scalable Virtual Image technology delivers lower operational costs through simple and scalable desktop image management and reduces storage requirements up to 90 percent for virtual desktop infrastructure environments.  
• Offline Virtual Desktop Infrastructure  - enables end users to "check out" personalized virtual desktops running on VMware virtual desktop infrastructure to a notebook computer for use offline and then "check back in" to the same desktop running in their virtual desktop infrastructure environment.  The technology previews how a single virtual desktop infrastructure platform may be able to support all enterprise PCs in the future.
• Application Virtualization Technology (formerly Thinstall) - VMware will also unveil the beta version of its application virtualization product, code-named "Project North Star," expected to be generally available later this year.  Based on the company's recent Thinstall acquisition, VMware application virtualization simplifies application deployment and management by reducing the time and effort to test, package, install, and update applications in physical and virtual desktop environments.   

"VMware is once again transforming computing and this time it's aimed at the desktop," said Chris Tunnecliff, Group Infrastructure Architect at Aspen Insurance.  "Through innovations like those announced today, VMware is showing how a virtual desktop matches a physical desktop in terms of user experience but far exceed physical desktops when it comes to manageability and security.   With VMware desktop virtualization, we are delivering complex, resource-hungry applications to users in ways simply not possible on physical systems.  In addition, we are able to dynamically allocate resources to individual users on demand in an environment that is extremely safe and reliable."