Will bulky desktops survive the onslaught of sleek, convenient and stylish netbooks, smartphones, and smartbooks? Previous instances indicate that the trend has been that of a gradual decline as in the cases of the Cathode Ray Tube monitor, the floppy disk and even CD drives. The argument here is that smaller devices are cheaper to make and with advanced processors like Intel’s Atom, it is to squeeze more computing power into smaller forms.

While many firmly believe that the personal computer is all but dead, there is still some hope left. Top brands have been making constant innovations to help PCs keep up with the competition. Different software applications like the Iomega’s v.Clone software or Optimal Access’ mobile desktop empowers you to create and carry an image of your primary PC and run on virtually any PC in the world, a trend that will further boost the ease of desktop use. All-in-ones like the Lenovo 8300 (the thinnest in the market), which are just like the desktop, only more compact and stylish, have captured the imagination of the tech-savvy and taken the PC experience to a new level. In addition, smaller devices come under criticism for restrictive usage as far as screen size is concerned.

The analysts believe the combination of a stationary display, keyboard and mouse with a mobile PC is the ideal configuration for many users and the return of the x86 processor markets to normal seasonal patterns is heartening. IDC is also forecasting a healthy growth of 15.1 percent in worldwide PC processor shipments for 2010 while Gartner expects a jump of more than 12 percent. These predictions show the huge dependency of the chip makers from the desktop processor market. Amidst all the flickering predictions of a declining desktop trend, the words of Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft is an assurance of the undying spirit as he says, “There’s no more popular smart device in the world today than the PC.”