LAS VEGAS: Sacking the old PC in favor of desktop virtualisation is starting to grow and the information technology managers taking the lead on that trend offered some perspectives on the networking and security challenges it brings.

Ovum peered into the future and came up with seven tech topics it claims are just cresting the horizon.

Answering demand for more power and speed, chip giant Intel has rolled out the Xeon Processor E7 family for mission-critical computing in the enterprise.

It's been said that Oracle is now the industry's most powerful open source vendor, but don't tell that to Red Hat executives, who say Oracle doesn't even qualify as an open source company.

Dell CEO Michael Dell contends that mobile devices will never kill the PC. Instead, he envisions a future where users own an increasing number and variety of devices, each capable of looking like the other via desktop virtualisation, served by virtual networks and the cloud.

The Department of Defence (DoD) has launched an Invitation to Register Interest (IRI) for companies to transform its desktop environment to virtualised thin clients.

Quest Software has launched version 7.1 of its vWorkspace desktop virtualisation management software.

Stressing desktop virtualization as a cost-saver for smaller enterprises, Kaviza is partnering with Citrix to boost Kaviza's VDI-in-a-box (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) technology.

Desktop virtualization has a predicted growth curve that leaves much of the PC and IT services industries smiling: Yet none of the technologies or service providers promising to offer hosted virtual desktops are ready to step into key roles in enterprise IT infrastructures, according the same well-respected analysts who set the server virtualization market on its ear with a similar conclusion last year.

Virtual desktops-once the most rigid, least friendly way to put applications in front of end users-have become a hot topic by promising to deliver the security and easy maintenance that was always desktop virtualization's strength. The trouble: Desktop virtualization now comes in so many varieties that even vendors confuse terms referring to the flavors.

Successful server virtualization deployments lead many IT managers to believe desktop virtualization would provide the same benefits. While that is partly true, companies need to be aware of how the two technologies differ, industry experts caution.