After the huge success of server virtualisation, many organisations have been eyeing the desktop as the next target for a virtual makeover.

To date, though, one issue has stopped them in their tracks. While running desktop services over the network from the data centre works well for standard office workloads, anything more complex hits a performance barrier. That is because the protocol most commonly used for moving data to and from the display (the decade-old Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol) was never designed with desktop virtualisation in mind.

Enter PC-over-IP, a "scalable, adaptive display" protocol built for delivering virtual desktops over WANs or LANs by start-up Teradici, and now adopted by virtualisation market-leader VMware in its recently launched View 4 virtual desktop software.

VMware claims that View 4 is designed to support a broad list of use cases and deployment options - from call centre and knowledge workers to design professionals and architects. This will allow one early adopter, fibreglass maker Owens Corning, to deliver virtual desktops "without compromising the end-user experience," according to its solutions architect, Greg Ball.