Microsoft is ending support for another iconic Windows offering
There are lots of better options than Windows Thin PC now, suggests Microsoft
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Microsoftis finally retiring itsWindowsThin PC product on October 12, 2021, after almost a decade in service.
Launched in 2011, Microsoft introduced Windows Thin PC to help customers repurpose their existing, but under-powered PCs asthin clients, giving users a cost-effective alternative to virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
While Windows Thin PC was well-received on launch, over time however, it faded from the limelight, with the availability of more useful, and feature-rich alternatives, along with the evaporating cost-disadvantages of VDI.
“For organizations still maintaining Windows Thin PC, Microsoft recommends that you consider moving to a newerremote desktopclient,” suggested Microsoft in thebrief reminder.
Thin isn’t in
Windows Thin PC is a stripped down version ofWindows 7for Windows XP-running PCs that lacked the resources to support the full version of Windows 7.
The product was aimed primarily at business users to help companies experience the best of Windows 7, while saving on the hardware upgrade costs on their existing computers.
Despite being namedThin, Windows Thin PC didn’t run on thin client devices. However the product did offer a wonderful thin client experience thanks to use of features such as RemoteFX to enable remote desktop clients to use the graphics hardware on the remote server.
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Of course, computing has moved quite a lot in the last decade and with the availability of feature-rich remote desktop platforms, it was only a matter of time before Windows Thin Client joined Windows 7, which itself reachedend of life in 2020.
With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’sTechRadar Pro’sexpert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.
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