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So basically they did what apple was trying to do with parallels or bootcamp and then took it a step further with their product suite and security.

You better have a decent laptop with enough ram for both VM’s and the hypervisor though. Minimum 4gb I’d say.
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It’s even more than that. They have the ability to directly access the GPU, CPU and NIC from the VM, while having all other things (like USB) move through Dom0. This allows full 3D acceleration and USB device mapping into the VM. And, because it is hypervisor-based you lose the overhead for a base OS and the problems of users screwing it up and not being able to run their business system.

AND…. Even more cool is that they have the ability for a program from the business system to be seamlessly displayed on the personal one to keep a consistent desktop, all while keeping the security intact. They did a demo with a key-logging application in the personal system with a business app displayed in it. The key-logger grabbed everything until the user moved focus over to the business app and, because of the hardware separation that Intel provides, it stopped.

As for the hardware on the PC side. Yes, you’d need some RAM and a new(er) processor. The other thought is that you could also deploy to XenDesktop using this technology and then deliver it to a ThinClient on someone’s desk. Why, you ask?

You could have a small group of powerful laptops for people traveling. People could put in a request prior to traveling and then the IT department moves that user’s image from XenDesktop to the physical laptop. This will allow the end-user to be able to work with no Internet connection (something XenDesktop can’t do). When they return from travel, they check the laptop back in and the IT department does the reverse.

1. You only need a connection back to the “mother ship” to get the thing going the first time. Once you have your image, you work offline like any other system that you have ever used. When you plug back in, all the changes that the IT folks want you to have (application updates, operating system updates, etc.) are pushed to you and all of your changes (documents, icon placements, favorites, etc.) are sent to them.

2. There will always be a way to hose up the machine. If there wasn’t, why would you need me?
a) Likely, it will become much more difficult than it is today, however. Mainly, because the more important business virtual machine will be locked down so tightly that you can’t break it.
b) The other piece of this is the actual virtualization software layer. if that is broken, you’re out of luck. But, Citrix and Intel are working diligently to actually include this layer into firmware on the system board, much like a BIOS is today. This will provide much greater reliability than having it on a disk.
c) Then, there is the hardware itself. If it goes bad, you’re also dead. But, what’s neat about this solution is the fact that we will have a full copy of your system back in the data center. And, because it’s virtualized, it can be put on a new system with zero changes to drivers and other things. If you are remote and we can’t get the big image to you quickly, it can be placed on a virtual machine in the data center and delivered to you via some of Citrix’s other delivery methods, with nearly no performance hit, until you can get back to the office or have a system shipped to you with your image on it.

In my opinion, this is a win-win-win:
a) End-user gets more control of their system, but also has much more stability for their business side.
b) IT doesn’t have to support a bunch of crap any longer. If it isn’t in the business system, we’re not supporting it.
c) Company spends less money on support AND has the ability to actually have their employees Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC).

As a PC anarchist, I’m always a little uncomfortable with the idea of control being taken away from me. After all, the whole idea of the Personal Computer was to break us away from Big Iron and the dumb terminal.

As someone who was on the cutting edge of computers, my company adopted as standards several software programs that I couldn’t have experimented with on a locked-down machine.

That bias aside, here are a couple of quick questions:

1. I may have skimmed past it in my quick read, but does the end user require a connection back to the mother ship in order to work? In other words, if I’m on a plane or a deserted island, am I able or unable to work on my applications?

2. I see that you carefully segregate personal and user personalities (for lack of a better term). Still, wouldn’t it be possible for a user to so hose up his machine that he couldn’t access the God Box at the office? Before you answer that too quickly, every time something is built foolproof, a better fool is born.

I can see, however, where this would be a great tool to administer the masses.