Either I have my blublocker sunglasses on or things are just getting clearer on where Microsoft is taking us in the Desktop space.
In the past (and still is in most places), IT admins struggle to manage multiple images, fatting them up with all possible drivers, every application that deemed critical which meant ~20-30 applications and running around with CD's or DVD's to load onto client machines when they break. Roaming profiles made sense so the users setting's would restore and then there was the hour/s of manual setup to do. What a time!
Around 3 years ago, I was demo'd by a company named Softricity (maybe you've heard of them!) that really began to change my thinking of managing corporate desktops. It brought a whole new perspective in the way hardware and software can be separated into layers to make it easier to manage. Then with BDD 2007, the idea of separating drivers from the image was detrimental to getting down to a single neutral image.
Recap - "So let's see here, we separate the hardware from the OS image by dumping the drivers, we separate the applications from the OS image thus reducing frequent image modifications, the image is more lightweight which is easier to deploy (just in time since Vista is heavy enough on it's own) and by incorporating things like folder redirection and offline files, even the user's data is nearly separated."
Today , we are now seeing things like ConfigMgr SP1/R2 come out that wraps all these capabilities together.
1. Hardware - Through SP1's WOL and out of band management capabilities, we can manage the hardware down to the very basic levels of the BIOS and NIC.
2. OS - With OSD, it now centralizes your drivers into catalogs/packages to get you down to nearly one neutral image to manage. With offline hotfix integration for Vista images or the hotfix task sequence, injection of the latest hotfixes can update the image automagically leaving little reason to have to re-cut a new build. And even then, a build and capture Task Sequence can automate that entire process for you. (Go get some coffee and wait for payday!)
3. Applications - In Release 2 (R2), ConfigMgr will be fully integrated with application Virtualization. With this capability, you can strip out nearly all your applications from you image, thinning it down as much as possible is the idea here, and role basing those applications to AD groups or user/computer collections. This way, no matter where you deploy that image to, when the user logs on, the applications that HE OR SHE needs will be available to them dynamically by streaming on demand or launching locally cached virtual apps, good for those Laptop users. So no more fatting up the image with all those apps that "might" be needed.
4. Data, User settings - Through both folder redirection and offline files, separating the user settings and data from the OS is still some work. ConfigMgr does have the ability to run the User State Migration Tool which does a great job in migrating the user from machine to machine. Especially since virtual application settings can be universally controlled by Group policy using a networked home directory for the %appdata% variable. May be a good idea to make that folder offline for your Laptop's in a separate GPO for offline configurations to synch up next time they connect to the LAN.
Future, things are beginning to shape on the horizon around more dynamic desktop computing.
With Microsoft's purchase of Kidaro to include Enterprise Desktop Virtualization in the MDOP early next year, a whole new set of incredible changes are on the way to optimize yet even further. With the ability for users to move in and out of multiple OS's seamlessly will nearly end all compatibility reasons when upgrading to a new OS. So for Vista or even Windows Seven, it's just a matter of running side by side, IE 6 with IE 7, XP driver or Vista Driver ect. Also, deploying OS will be a matter of streaming down just the delta blocks of the OS that aren't already there using Http. For mobile users, being able to package the entire desktop environment onto a USB drive can be useful. Also using vDNA, this will change things in how we manage user data in the future. So sort of think how things work when connected to a Citrix/TS session, except if there is ever a disconnect in the network, the user still has his desktop!
Finally, Live Mesh is shaping up more and more to being that virtual desktop in the cloud. Microsoft is really putting a lot of work behind it to develop it into something more that just a offered service, but an actual functional platform. So one day, we all may be working from a browser to connect to our virtual applications via mobile device or thin client. But that's just silly, where am I going to put my DVD movies...oh yeah, I'll connect my mobile device to my Microsoft MediaRoom and stream movie or TV via IPTV. I sure see the desktop becoming the mainframe of yesterday!