In the corporate world, a client must be a Windows machine with additional memory and disk space for the interpreter and runtime environment of the specific software development tool. This environment can add up to 16 megabytes of memory to every client that must run the application. But using plug-ins defeats the promise of thin clients by adding additional baggage on top of the native operating system of the client and the browser. The situation is even worse beyond the firewall and into the Internet. While it is conceivable that a company may wish to invest in a consistent fat-client environment, it cannot mandate this platform for its customers, vendors and suppliers.
Applications written for fat intranet clients are unlikely to work outside the enterprise.
Nor will these applications run on the low-cost Internet appliances that are on the horizon. Again, many companies are designing Intranets using standard browser technology in hopes of solving this problem. However, a plug-in based strategy is even worse than the existing homogeneous Windows environment that exists in many corporations. In addition to maintaining a consistent computing platform, or set of platforms, IS managers must maintain a particular browser type with a compatible set of plug-ins. Employees or other users who wish to access an application must have the same set of plug-ins and use the same browser.