Turning Legacy PCs Into Thin Client Apps

Wyse Technology this week rolled out the latest version of its Rapport management software and a new product designed to bring legacy PCs into the thin client mix.

Wyse Technology Inc. this week rolled out the latest version of its Rapport management software and a new product designed to bring legacy PCs into the thin client mix.

Wyse announced the latest iteration of its Rapport management software, Version 4.0, and its Alcatraz product, which is designed to enable businesses to turn their legacy desktop PCs into thin client appliances.

Rapport 4.0, which comes bundled with all the companys Winterm thin client appliances, can manage hundreds of thousands of devices with an enhanced Microsoft Management Console that includes an improved GUI and wizards for easier use, said David Rand, director of corporate marketing for the San Jose, Calif., company.

The new software also can manage more simultaneous updates, up to 1,000, and can set concurrent work levels, enabling a set number of updates to be performed during the day, then have that number scale up during off-hours.

Alcatraz, available next week starting at $79 per seat, enables businesses to put thin client-like capabilities onto desktops by giving the PCs access to applications housed on back-end servers, similar to Neoware System Inc.s ThinPC product. Administrators also will be able to control how employees use their PCs, including such things as what applications they can access, whether they can access Web browsers and if they can change their desktop displays.

Hewlett-Packard Co., of Palto Alto, Calif., late last month rolled out its first all-HP thin client, the t5700, which is managed by Altiris Deployment Solution, from Altiris Inc. Customers can use the software to manage both networked thin clients and PCs.

Neoware, of King of Prussia, Pa., also offers ThinPC, software that enables PCs to access server-based Windows and Linux applications. The PCs are then managed by Neowares ezRemote Manager, which currently is used to handle thin clients.

Vendors continue to try to stake their claim in an industry that research firm International Data Corp. has said could grow 27 percent between now and 2006, with sales jumping from 1.5 million units this year to more than 3 million in four years.

Earlier this month, Neoware launched an all-in-one, flat-panel thin client, the Eon Prestige, that can be set up on a desk or mounted on a wall. The same day, Wyse introduced the Winterm 9650XE, a similar compact, flat-panel device. Both can support Microsoft Corp.s Windows XP Embedded operating system.

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