News
Microsoft Extends Terminal Services Client Family
- By Scott Bekker
- 03/10/2000
Microsoft Corp. announced a new client for use with Terminal Services, and foreshadowed another that will emerge later this year.
Windows-based Terminal (WBT) Standard 1.5 was finalized and sent to PC manufacturers earlier this month and should become generally available within the next few weeks. The new version of WBT Standard, based on Windows CE, is an entry-level client. Dave Pollon, Microsoft's product manager for thin clients, says it is targeted at task workers and green screen replacements.
WBT Standard 1.5 includes an updated Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client for Windows 2000 Terminal Services and SNMP manageability. The updated RDP client provides native connectivity to applications deployed via the Terminal Services functionality in Windows 2000 Server or Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition, improved on-the-wire performance, and support for locally attached printers and remote control of sessions. The SNMP stack provides a standards-based management platform across all WBT Standard devices.
Pollon said Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) plans to ship later this year the WBT Professional, based on Windows NT Embedded. Professional enables systems builders to incorporate Internet Explorer 5.0, Windows Media Player and the full Win32 RDP client.
"It's a more robust client oriented toward applications based on a browser," Pollon says.
Hardware OEMs are expected to ship WBT products in the second half of 2000. - Thomas Sullivan
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.