Windows Thin Client: What a wasted opportunity!</h1> <article> <h1>Windows Thin Client: What a wasted opportunity!</h1> <p>Sat, 21 May 2011 20:24:35 +0000</p> <p>Over the past few days I have been experimenting with the RC version of Windows Thin Client, a cut down version of Windows 7 which will replace windows fundamentals for legacy PC's for those of us </p><p> </p><p> with Software assurance.</p><p> </p><p> Due to the impending upgrade to windows 7 over the summer, around 20 machines will not be able to run Windows 7. These machines are all fully functional but not worth upgrading. As a small school </p><p> </p><p> we do not have the resources to deliver Virtual Desktops however we do have a schools agreement which could cover these machines. In previous years these laptops would end up as Linux terminals </p><p> </p><p> with access only to the Internet. This year we will move to an EES agreement, meaning that these 20 machines could be licensed at no extra cost to the school.</p><p> </p><p> WTPC has a minimum specification of 1GB of RAM, but I wanted to see if it would work with half of that.</p><p> </p><p> My test machine consisted of a 6 year old Dell Latitude D510/1.6Ghz Celeron with 512MB of RAM and my aim was to see if I could make them more useful by installing WTPC and some software.</p><p> </p><p> The software list consisted of:</p><p> </p><p> Adobe Flash</p><p> Java RE</p><p> Office 2010 - Excel, Word and PowerPoint Only</p><p> IE 9</p><p> Sophos</p><p> Spec Ops Deploy Client Side Extension</p><p> </p><p> On its own WTPC used around 250-300MB of RAM and started from cold in around a minute. I was pleasently surprised that I could add the machine to the domain and that WTPC supports group policy as a </p><p> </p><p> full fat PC would. Logging in as a user was seemless, redirection is supported as is wireless.</p><p> </p><p> With Sophos installed the machine ran with around 350-400MB of RAM being used when idle, still enough to allow either an Office Application or an Internet Explorer session.</p><p> </p><p> Great stuff except..........</p><p> </p><p> The licensing of WTPC is very restrictive - no productivity applications can be installed on it (meaning no local office!).</p><p> </p><p> It is unfortunate that the licensing terms are so restrictive, WTPC would be a great product to increase the availability of machines in most primary schools whilst retaining a similar feel and the same applications that the full fat versions of windows has.</p><p> </p><p> I am hoping someone at MS reads this & I can change their minds, but in the meantime I will be looking to run office over the web from the Live<a contenteditable="false" rel="" href="https://www.edugeek.net/profile/30446-edu/" data-mentionid="30446" data-ipshover-target="https://www.edugeek.net/profile/30446-edu/?do=hovercard" data-ipshover="">@edu</a> solution we have.</p> </article> <article> <h1>I see the point</h1> <p>Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:09:49 +0000</p> <p>As I work in a Special School I have always seen the point of tablets, and we will soon get to the point where they will be affordable to purchase in large numbers. I intend replace a trolley with them in 2 years time.</p><p> </p><p> My question is over how managable they are - iPads are great for home users, not so much for integrating into a windows infrastructure - what product have you seen to make you change your mind?</p><p> </p><p> I can see every student eventually having one of these, and desktops and laptops being used purely for application that require the higher processing power.</p> </article> </main></body></html>