The 14 page,  Windows Vista™ Centralized Desktop and Virtual Server Whitepaper has been posted on Microsoft Downloads.

It is an overview of the centralised desktop, comparing terminal services to VDI type inititaves.  The paper focuses onthe technologies: Virtual Server 2005 R2 with Service Pack 1,  RDP, the upcoming  Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) and end to end management of the infrastruccture.

I found it a good primer, and assorted snippets that interested me are below:

  • Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop is another option for the delivery of remote desktops…
  • …the RDP client has been enhanced to optimize network usage and deliver an enhanced user experience through features such as printing to local printers, 32-bit color and sound, support for console mode connections, session directory, and local resource mapping….
  • RDP 6.0, introduced with Vista and “Longhorn,” [adds support and] makes it possible to deliver the Windows Aero experience to remote desktop client devices running Windows Vista.
  • The desktop client device can be a “thin client” device running the Windows XP Embedded or Windows CE Embedded operating system, or it can be a “rich client” device such as a traditional PC running Windows Vista or Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs.
  • Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager [in] a Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop setting, is used to provide a single, console-based view of all VMs, manage the deployment and provisioning of VMs using templates or standard SYSPREP images, and facilitate the intelligent placement of VMs among multiple physical Virtual Server host systems.
  • Licensing of Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop is subscription based, nonperpetual, and instance based (rather than installation based). It is available to all volume licensing (VL) customers in Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) and Select VL programs.

The above points were edited heavily, and probably loose context, so you should download the whitepaper and check it out for yourself.