Doomsday is April 8, 2014, less than a year from now: The day Microsoft will stop supplying security patches and providing support for Windows XP.
Chances are good that there are still Windows XP PCs in your organization. About one third of all PCs in the world are said to run Windows XP, a platform essentially a decade old. No responsible CIO can seriously consider running unsupported systems nor buy extended Microsoft support (rumored to be about two hundred dollars per year per desktop!)
“The biggest danger stems from machines that have been ‘repurposed’ keeping Windows”, says Emanuel Pirker, Founder&CEO of Stratodesk. By repurposed he means Windows PCs that are used as VDI terminals to Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop, VMware Horizon View, vWorkspace, DaaS services etc. “Typically system administrators tend to forget about them. Can you be sure these machines are compliant with your update policies. Are they still protected against virus attacks and malware?”
Stratodesk has devised a repurposing software that allows and even encourages people to forget the endpoints while being safe: Stratodesk NoTouch Desktop provides an immediate software-only solution. NoTouch Desktop replaces Windows XP on PCs, and Windows XP Embedded on Thin Clients, with a secure and easy-to-handle OS based on a specialized Linux variant with central management, yielding some immediate benefits:
- No need to buy new hardware or upgrade the hardware – and if you do later, you chose the brand you’d like without vendor-lock-in
- State-of-the-art VDI connectivity with latest Citrix, VMware Horizon View, Quest, Microsoft RDP clients, web browser, DaaS, BYOD and much more
- One single management framework for different devices
- One single consistent end user experience
- Commercially supported, enterprise-grade product
San Francisco, California, based Stratodesk allows people to try NoTouch Desktop – for free: NoTouch FreeTrial.
NoTouch is not just a kit to replace Windows XP – it is a sophisticated endpoint solution for any VDI/Virtual-Desktop- and BYOD-type (bring your own device) scenario. It runs on existing PCs, new PCs and Thin Clients of various brands, providing one solution for all endpoint devices with a unified management platform.
