Microsoft wants you to run those old PC's as thin clients?
Wow, this just struck me as ironic since running a thin client (specifically java applications on a UNIX box) has been championed as a Windows killer for years. Of course it never killed Windows :) but it is still odd to hear Microsoft even use the term "thin client" let alone offer a product.
Then again, there is a need. Given the immense bloat of Microsoft products, older PC hardware just cannot run the new versions. (Although LINUX and java run just fine :)
Given the very limited number of tasks most people do on their PC's, the increasing power of hardware and the increasingly networked nature of work, thin clients are a great idea whose time is yet to come (again). Basing them on Windows however is more than a little questionable...
Microsoft extends lifeline for older PCs
July 12, 2006, 10:47 AM PT
Microsoft on Wednesday revealed software that turns older PCs into more modern and secure systems, but in the process also makes them less than full-fledged computers.
The software, known as Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, is designed as a stopgap measure for companies with a significant number of older Windows PCs that they aren't ready to replace and that can't be easily upgraded to Windows XP.
Formerly known by its Eiger code name, Windows Fundamentals gives those PCs some of the security benefits of XP but essentially turns the machines into thin clients, able to run only a few programs locally, with most software needing to run remotely from a server.
