Sign In

New User? Register

A quick summary of the things you might have missed this week.

By now everyone knows that a Terminal Server CAL token is stored on a client device after that client connects to a terminal server. But how does this work in situations where the client device doesn't have any local storage capabilities? How do Microsoft and Citrix work around this? And what about the Linux and open source clients?

Now that fat client PCs are so cheap and manageable, is there a future for thin client devices? In this editorial, Michel Roth explores this issues by looking at the "traditional" advantages of thin client devices and whether those still apply in today's world of $300 Dell PCs.

A Norwegian company called Linpro developed a product called MultiFrame to reconfigure fat client workstations into Linux-based centrally-managed thin client terminals.

In this article, John Ferrell shows you how to create a Linux CD that you can use to boot any computer into a thin client environment with a web browser and ICA client, essentially converting a PC (for free) into a thin client.

It's been almost a year since I originally wrote the Microsoft was releasing a stripped-down version of Windows XP Professional that can be used to convert a regular PC to a Windows XP-based thin client. Originally slated to be released this month, that product has now been pushed back to "late 2006."

Even if you decide to go with thin client devices, the decisions about which thin client device you should use is almost as complex as your server architecture... Throw in the management software choices and you certainly have your work cut out for you!

Microsoft just officially announced Windows Fundamentals (previously codenamed Eiger), a stipped-down version of Windows that will convert a legacy PC into a Windows-based thin client device. The price? Free. (If you already have a Windows XP license and Software Assurance.)

The Citrix development team is looking for your input as to which thin client device platforms they should develop ICA client software for. So if you have a favorite (CE, XPe, Java, Linux, etc.), now's the time to make your voice heard.

New thin client devices are rediculously expensive. I think people should just buy old ones from eBay and configure them for DHCP and ICA auto connections. (I'm serious about this.) Read on to learn how and why.

2 pages: