With a thin client, there are no moving parts on the desktop to break, and there is no RAM to add. Upgrade the processor, or add more RAM to the server, and all users on the network get a performance boost. But the total cost of ownership will be significantly lower. TCO could be 35 percent lower in limited-function environments, such as call centers. Beyond the cost issues, the centralized nature of the thin-client model is also increasingly appealing to business.
All corporate data can reside on a secure server with built-in backup and redundancy.
Although sales of thin-client machines still pale in comparison with the 44 million PCs sold in the U.S. last year, the total is nearly doubling from year to year. Certainly, our tests at PC Magazine Labs show that typical office workers could use thin clients, too. From the user's point of view, thin clients aren't perfect. Overriding system defaults and turning on remote monitoring of a user without the user's knowledge are also relatively easy. On the network OS side, Citrix Systems and Microsoft pretty much own the thin-client server market today.