VMware Inc. released the updated virtual desktop manager VMware View to provide, the company said, the richness of a thick client but with the manageability of a thin client. VWware also said this year that Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), the hosting of multiple sets of PC applications and operating systems on one server, will remain a focus in the next several years due to its ability to render a richer traditional thin client model.

And Hewlett-Packard Co. announced updates to its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure suite to better handle multimedia content, something thin clients haven't necessarily been able to do well, with enhanced video playback and USB peripherals like Webcams.

Offering a different approach to the usual options presented by thin clients, desktop blades and virtualization tools, Lenovo released its storage-based and hard-drive free Secure Managed Client (SMC) so data can be stored in a non-server remote location.

There was a new version of Microsoft Corp.'s desktop management toolset Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) including App-V 4.5 (formerly Softgrid) so users can package applications, store and manage them on a server before streaming them to desktops and devices.

And not to be left out, Citrix Systems Inc., after renaming its Presentation Server application delivery software to XenApp and trumpeting it's expertise in application virtualization, released XenApp 5 later in the year.