We can safely forget about it. They are connected to a network, and through the network to a server. They are utterly dependent on the server computer for their operating system software, their applications, and their file storage. Each time the NC is booted it pulls down its operating system anew. Each time it launches an application, that software is downloaded to the NC afresh.
Applications run on the desktop, on the NC s processor using the NC s memory.
The range of native applications for NCs is very narrow at present. The most pervasive are Web browsers, though Java-based browsers are also available. Being a WT isn t so much what a thing is as what it does. An old 386-based PC can be a WT, as can a new Pentium or a Mac or a Unix workstation. Several companies even make dedicated WTs, which serve no other function.