Intel has announced vPro - an updated corporate desktop platform. This standard combines enhanced management capabilities with proactive security features, and intends to perform such functions as detecting and blocking malware activity and providing support for virtual machines handling functions such as client-side firewalls.
The vPro brand platform, available from the second half of 2006, combines the Conroe dual-core processor with a new motherboard chipset, enhanced graphics, a gigabit LAN adapter and an Intel software set that adds advanced new capabilities.
A nice touch here is that vPro will pack the necessary punch to handle Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Vista operating system, providing powerful-enough graphics for Vista's full Aero Glass 3D user interface. Intel also claims that VPro's new proactive security will help to counter zero-day attacks, several examples of which have been seen in recent months.