Jonathan Feldman Thin may be in, but fat is where it's at for Microsoft Windows 9x and NT desktops. As much as user profiles, policies and disk duplication help streamline PC desktop deployment and maintenance, even these techniques sometimes aren't enough to get desktop fat under control. Letting users feel unfettered, while giving you the control and security you need. All desktop management suites must handle application deployment, desktop configuration and lockdown, remote control and information management. Two of the four suites we tested, Novell ZENworks and Intel LANDesk, include virus protection, and we predict the others will soon follow suit.
Application deployment is, naturally, the bread and butter of desktop management.
Application packagers, notably Microsoft's SMS Installer, offer strong scripting functions, which can be powerful assistants for installs and perform workstation maintenance that can't be captured in snapshot-style deployments. Only ZENworks integrates workstation policy management into its console. With any kind of mass authentication, if it's a bother to change passwords, they don't get changed. We were satisfied, however, with the prebuilt reports that shipped with all four packages we tested. All support data export, allowing you to use any system you want to create reports.