Desktop virtualization is software technology that does what?

• A. Separates the desktop environment and associated application software from the physical client device that is used to access it.
• B. Virtualizes only the network hardware.
• C. Increases the speed of the local hard drive.
• D. Encrypts the screen output to a remote device.

Answer: (A)

Desktop virtualization decouples the desktop environment and its applications from the physical device used to access it. The desktop and apps run on a server or in the data center, and users interact with them over the network through a remote session. This means the client device acts mainly as a gateway or thin client, while the core computing happens remotely and is managed centrally. The described option matches this idea exactly by describing the separation of the desktop and its software from the accessing device. The other statements refer to different concepts—virtualizing only network hardware, boosting local hard drive speed, or encrypting screen output—none of which capture the primary purpose of delivering a centralized, remote desktop experience.