The 2005 Professional Business Platform offers IT managers one particular advantage: It debuts Intel’s new Active Management Technology. AMT enables IT managers to remotely manage or repair any PC on a network, even if the machine is turned off or its operating system has been corrupted.

This previously was not possible using management software, said Mike Ferron-Jones, manager of Intel digital office platform marketing, at the platform’s launch event in San Francisco.

AMT is not yet available on consumer platforms, but likely will be at some future point, said Gregory Bryant, general manager of Intel business client group and digital enterprise group.

PBP is based on the single-core Pentium 4 processor and includes Intel’s 945G and 945P chipsets, which support VoIP, wireless networking and high-definition graphics, and the Intel Pro/1000 PM network adapter.

Bryant was eager to point out that PBP is part of Intel’s Stable Image Platform program, or SIPP, which is a guaranteed timeline of mainstream product releases. Essentially, SIPP guarantees IT managers one quarter for qualification, beginning June 1 every year, then four quarters for buying before new technologies are bundled into mainstream offerings.

SIPP is a cornerstone of Intel’s strategy for IT buyers in the future, Bryant said. It gives enterprises image stability and predictable transitions to new mainstream platforms, which promises lower configuration costs and faster deployment.

Of course, it also means dual-core won’t be available under SIPP until next June, (and, according to Ferron-Jones, next year’s PBP will have a dual-core processor, in time for Intel’s 65-nanometer manufacturing technology, which begins in the first quarter of 2006).

While this year’s single-core PBP is ready for Microsoft’s long-anticipated new operating system Longhorn, Bryant did not directly address whether PBP 2005 will be able to fully utilize the OS.

In terms of investment protection, we want people to buy this mainstream platform and know it will good for the life of the system, Bryant said.

A Microsoft representative, who is not a spokesperson and requested their name not be published, said a dual-core processor is necessary to take full advantage of Longhorn.

So, why must businesses wait for mainstream dual-core? Bryant said because IT shops need time to test and qualify new systems. Qualification time, it seems, beyond the three months IT buyers have under SIPP.