A stripped-down version of Windows designed by Microsoft for thin clients is now available for customers to download and evaluate.
Stripped-down version of Windows 7 on the way
Microsoft announced Windows Thin PC last month, saying it would be available as part of Software Assurance, a licensing programme that gives upgrade rights and other services to Windows customers. The company reversed course slightly this week, offering a preview version of Thin PC as a free download available to anyone, but said the final product will still be available only to Software Assurance customers.
Windows Thin PC is a "locked-down version of Windows 7 designed to help repurpose existing PCs as thin clients", helping customers save money on hardware, and replaces Microsoft's previous thin client OS, Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs. Microsoft promises a "rich VDI experience through support for RemoteFX, improved endpoint security by denying certain disk writes via filters, [and] enterprise-grade management support through System Center".
The Windows Thin PC evaluation version is a 1.2GB .ISO file which can be downloaded on the Microsoft Connect site. Hardware requirements include a 1GHz or faster processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB hard disk space, a DirectX 9 graphics device with Windows Display Drive Model 1.0 or later, and a bootable DVD-ROM drive. The preview version will remain active until October 31 2011.
In addition to Windows Thin PC, Microsoft has also been providing new package accelerators for App-V, which simplify the process of deploying software as part of an application virtualisation roll-out. Specific pieces of software supported by package accelerators include Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader, Firefox, Safari, QuickTime and OpenOffice.
Comments
Hamzaatiq Ha said: thank god window is getting loaded against android os androidengineerspkblogspotco
David Price said: 2 To participate in the public Windows Thin PC CTP please follow these three stepsa First you need a Windows Live ID to log in and download the Public CTP at connectmicrosoftcomb Next go to the Connection Directory search for TPC or Windows TPC and click on join The Windows Thin PC CTP program page will automatically open in your browserc Then choose downloads on the Windows Thin PC program pageDavid PricePCA
David Price said: Ive heard back from Microsoft who offer the following advice1 Check your security site settings in Internet Explorer as it may not allow for login to the Microsoft Connect website Please follow these steps a If using IE add httpsloginlivecom and httpsconnectmicrosoftcom to the trusted sites in IE then try to sign-in and complete registration If any on Connect The Blog Post describes how to add sites to trusted sites listb If these URLs are already present in the trusted sites list try removing them and then try sign-in
Steve Marfisi said: If you want to deliver WinTPC to re-purposed devices the easiest way is diskless Ive successfully tested WinTPC with the latest version of Double-Take Flex v33 and its new Provisioning Wizard Shared read-only WinTPC installations can be provisioned direct to iSCSI for diskless boot from SAN with about 5 clicks
David Price said: Thats odd John Ive checked via Microsofts own WinTPC pagewwwmicrosoftcomwindowsenteand their internal link does the same thing Ive asked Microsoft if the page is down or its a bad link and theyre looking into itThanks for the spotDavid PricePCA
John said: Ha the page is not foundPage Not Found The content that you requested cannot be found or you do not have permission to view it If you believe you have reached this page in error click the Help link at the top of the page to report the issue and include this ID in your e-mail 74aa98a1-6b9b-49b1-8080-3467bf62d77a Microsoft Connect welcome page