  Until recently, the detection of magnetic fields at the surface of
intermediate-mass main-sequence stars has been limited to Ap/Bp stars, a class
of chemically peculiar stars. This class represents no more than 5-10% of the
stars in this mass range. This small fraction is not explained by the fossil
field paradigm that describes the Ap/Bp type magnetism as a remnant of an early
phase of the star-life. Also, the limitation of the field measurements to a
small and special group of stars is obviously a problem to study the effect of
the magnetic fields on the stellar evolution of a typical intermediate-mass
star.
  Thanks to the improved sensitivity of a new generation of
spectropolarimeters, a lower bound to the magnetic fields of Ap/Bp stars, a two
orders of magnitude desert in the longitudinal magnetic field and a new type of
sub-gauss magnetism first discovered on Vega have been identified. These
advances provide new clues to understand the origin of intermediate-mass
magnetism as well as its influence on stellar evolution. In particular, a
scenario has been proposed whereby the magnetic dichotomy between Ap/Bp and
Vega-like magnetism originate from the bifurcation between stable and unstable
large scale magnetic configurations in differentially rotating stars. In this
paper, we review these recent observational findings and discuss this scenario.
