Microsoft Windows Thin PC Available July 1st

(Thanks to Larry D. for the heads up on this one.)

For a long time we've had the "dream" that we can use old desktop PCs as thin clients. After all, why throw away a perfectly working Pentium machine with decent graphics just because the O.S. is old and it can't run any programs? :-)

The problem has been: that machine still needs maintenance. If it's Windows 2000, XP, or even Vista, it is old but usable. But it has an O.S. It needs updates. It needs to be secured. It needs anti-virus. And so forth.

So while a nice $400 thin client would be cool, it would also be nice to get some value out of that perfectly working old P.C.

Enter Microsoft Windows Thin PC (WinTPC). See the official site at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/solutions/virtualization/products/thinpc.aspx.

The RTM announcement is here: http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/business/archive/2011/06/07/windows-thin-pc-rtms.aspx (That's the Windows Blog in case you want to add to your RSS feed).

One very good bit of news: You'll be able to access Citrix machines in addition to Windows RDP.

The Microsoft Windows Thin PC is basically a locked-down version of Windows. It works a LOT like the Windows Embedded version sold through HP, Wyse, and others for thin clients.

As Microsoft portrays it, the key benefits of this technology are:

1. Microsoft Windows Thin PC (WinTPC) enables customers to repurpose existing PCs as thin clients by providing a smaller footprint, locked down version of Windows 7.

2. Reduced End Point costs for VDI (virtual desktops)

3. Excellent Thin Client experience

4. Enterprise Ready platform (Windows 7)

I'm not going to register for the beta and download the "old" code at this point. But if you want to, you can do so at http://connect.microsoft.com.

I can wait 16 days.

:-)