Intel Corporation introduced on Monday its new Intel vPro technology, a revolutionary shift in desktop PC security and manageability along with energy-saving computing performance, the company said. Intel vPro technology will offer businesses and IT a competitive edge with breakthrough innovations and technologies to help get the most out of resources and shrinking IT budgets.

The company outlined how Intel vPro technology will deliver these benefits later this year through broad collaborations with industry-leading software leaders and IT service companies, and support from PC system manufacturers around the world. Intel vPro brand is the newest addition to Intel’s brand portfolio, and its first targeting businesses and IT customers.

At the heart of the first Intel vPro-based PCs will be an Intel Core microarchitecture dual-core processor. This next-generation, 64-bit microarchitecture bestows significant gains in performance and reductions in power-consumption improving responsiveness and productivity.

Intel vPro technology also includes the second-generation of Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT) and Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT). Intel VT will be integrated into the dual-core processor while the next-generation Intel AMT will be integrated into the new platform chipset.

Offering businesses avenues to reduce PC support costs, Intel AMT helps manage, inventory, diagnose and repair PCs even when systems are turned off or have crashed operating systems or hard drives. The second generation of Intel AMT offers the ability to isolate infected PCs before they impact the network and alert IT when threats are removed.

Further strengthening PC security, Intel VT allows for separate independent hardware-based environments inside a single PC so IT managers can create a dedicated, tamper-resistant service environment – or partition – where particular tasks or activities can run independently, invisible to and isolated from PC users.

Symantec has announced plans to work with Intel to build security solutions creating an isolated environment outside of the main PC operating system for the purpose of managing security threats. This tamper-resistant virtualized environment will deliver stronger control and protection in the data infrastructure.

Global software vendors that support for Intel vPro technology include Adobe, Altiris, Avocent, Check Point, Cisco, Computer Associates, Hitachi JP1, HP OpenView, Kaspersky Lab, LANDesk, Lenovo, Lockdown Networks, Microsoft, Novell, Panorama SW, SAP, Skype, StarSoftComm, SyAM Software, Symantec and Zenith.

Leaders in the IT services industry are also benefiting from the built-in manageability capabilities of Intel vPro technology. Global technology services companies, including Atos Origin, EDS and Siemens AG have all achieved IT costs reductions through Intel AMT and have published papers outlining the time and cost saving benefits of Intel AMT-based platforms.

Intel vPro-based PCs will also include Intel’s latest integrated graphics providing performance for mainstream business applications and being capable of delivering the full array of graphics interface features in Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Vista operating system.

Intel vPro technology will be part of the Intel Stable Image Platform program, which offers predictable transitions and promises that the Intel software stack and drivers will be available and unchanged for five quarters from the time of the product launch. In its fourth year, this program allows businesses to qualify a system once, instead of being forced to requalify the system due to software or hardware changes.

Intel vPro technology will usher in this new era for business computing starting in the second half of the year and will be identified by a new logo on PCs from major system manufacturers and channel resellers worldwide.