For IT administrators everywhere, the clock is ticking down toward an April 2014 deadline for the end of Windows XP support. That means that Windows 7 migrations are picking up steam. According to market researcher Net Applications, Windows XP is no longer the desktop operating system of choice.

But as many IT organizations inevitably discover during migration to a new operating system, a number of hurdles could make the move to Windows 7 far from a slamdunk proposition. Challenges include ensuring application compatibility, investigating the benefits and managing the rollout of desktop virtualisation.

Fortunately, new solutions are emerging to overcome these challenges. Not only do these solutions provide the essential building blocks for managing the application compatibility challenges that pop up with Windows 7 migrations, but they also free up IT organizations to fully leverage the economic, user productivity and management benefits of desktop virtualization.