Encryption is completely transparent to end users.
Only the network administrator has access to the user interface. With the newest 500MHz or even 1GHz Intel Pentiums we expect the performance to even triple. A software-based VPN has the advantage of offering more freedom to the customer to extend the VPN all the way from the client to the server. Performance is no longer a bottleneck. The policies may specify common settings for all workstations, servers and gateways in a zone or in the entire network.