One of the uglier truths of the entire Windows franchise is the desktop maintenance and management costs introduced with the provisioning of workstations. IT and purchasing managers are fully aware that the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a workstation is often many factors of cost higher than the original purchase price. Relief in the form of support technologies has been sporadic and incomplete. Is the future more promising?

TCO in desktop and related device management has many guises, including: