vnunet.com analysis: Linux and WinCE go head-to-head on vPro

A forthcoming upgrade to Intel's vPro enterprise desktop and notebook platform will see Linux and Windows go head-to-head as never before. 

Intel unveiled plans to move to a Linux-based platform earlier this month when it announced a new partnership with Red Hat.  

The two firms will build a next-generation hypervisor and virtual appliance operating system based on Linux and open source technologies. The technology is due out by 2008.

The vPro platform allow management software appliances to access a system outside the control of the user's main operating system.

This lets them apply patches without interrupting the user, clean up a virus infection or restore data from a back-up when a system has crashed.

These software appliances in the current vPro version are virtual machines running Windows CE, a special version of Windows optimised for hardware appliances such as PDAs and TV set-top boxes.

The partnership with Red Hat will add Linux as a platform on which independent software vendors such as LANdesk, Lenovo or Symantec can build software appliances. 

Because the vPro platform and the market for management software appliances is relatively new, neither operating system can rely on a legacy to push future sales.

It will also be up to the independent software vendors to choose the platform for their appliance rather than the end user. This significantly levels the playing field for the two vendors, allowing them to compete primarily on technology merits.

"IT shops wanted a standards-based approach to virtual appliances," said Intel ecosystem development manager Tom Quillin.

"Various embedded operating systems have their plusses and minuses. It will be up to the vendor to choose. Different people will make that decision differently."

Lenovo is the only vendor shipping an appliance with its Antidote Delivery Manager. Symantec is preparing to ship a security software appliance by September that provides antivirus and intrusion detection.  

Lenovo was unable to comment on its plans for its software appliance.

Gary Sabala, senior product manager for virtual security solutions at Symantec, told vnunet.com that the firm is keen to move over to Linux.

"Windows CE was always our short-term solution," he said. "Moving to Linux gives us an opportunity to design an operating system that is made for this isolated execution environment."

Windows CE's main benefit, argued Sabala, is that it allowed Symantec to quickly port over its Windows security software to a vPro appliance.

"Now it will be a little more work, but it will have some good pay off in the long run," he said.

Symantec also had concerns about the poor security record of Windows. Windows CE has a distinctly different kernel from Windows XP, and there is little known malware for the operating system.

But Sabala contended that the two applications still share many design features that would allow a malware author specialising in Windows XP to craft malware for Windows CE.

"Given the fact that Windows CE is built on XP components, there is an attack surface potentially there. That is what spurring us to make a transition to Linux," he said.

Roger Kay, founder of analyst firm Endpoint Technologies, added that Symantec has one more reason to give Windows CE the boot: the security vendor has a rocky relationship with Microsoft.

The two compete in the desktop antivirus market and the security vendor lobbied heavily against the software giant in the European Commission's antitrust investigation.

"They have angered Microsoft by dragging them into the legal mud in Europe. Symantec will be happy whenever it can get outside the scope of Microsoft's products," Kay told vnunet.com.

PC manufacturers started shipping the first vPro systems in September. Intel has not disclosed the number of systems that have been sold, but has stated that early sales volumes exceeded those of the Centrino mobile platform when it was first launched. 

Few enterprises which purchased vPro hardware use the technology today, but Intel and industry analysts expect adoption to grow as vPro gains additional market share.

The technology offers the best returns when it is used to manage a large number of desktop and notebook computers.