A method for displaying application program information in a windowing environment, the method comprising: receiving at a terminal, windowing information supplied by a program executing on a remotely located application server; displaying at the terminal, the windowing information supplied by the program executing on the remotely located application server, without executing the program locally at the terminal; transferring file information to and from the terminal using a communications protocol; and running more than one open session on the terminal, characterized in that each session has a text mode buffer so when the session is in a background the session writes to the text mode buffer and the session continues to run in the background, wherein each session stops sending and receiving data relating to a graphics application to and from the remotely located application server when the graphics application resides in a background session, and wherein each session commands the remotely located application server to refresh the data for the graphics application when the graphics application is switched to a foreground, the method further comprising: assigning the terminal an Internet Protocol address; after the assigning, automatically downloading one or more images to the terminal through a network link between the terminal and the remotely located application server; wherein the assigning comprises assigning the terminal an Internet Protocol address utilizing DHCP, and wherein the automatically downloading comprises: determining a path from an FTP base directory of the remotely located application server to the terminal, the remotely located application server configured to retain control, base-image files, and option image files; downloading files to the terminal; updating a boot block and a non-volatile memory in the terminal; and automatically rebooting the terminal after updating. receiving at a terminal, windowing information supplied by a program executing on a remotely located application server; displaying at the terminal, the windowing information supplied by the program executing on the remotely located application server, without executing the program locally at the terminal; transferring file information to and from the terminal using a communications protocol; and running more than one open session on the terminal, characterized in that each session has a text mode buffer so when the session is in a background the session writes to the text mode buffer and the session continues to run in the background, wherein each session stops sending and receiving data relating to a graphics application to and from the remotely located application server when the graphics application resides in a background session, and assigning the terminal an Internet Protocol address; after the assigning, automatically downloading one or more images to the terminal through a network link between the terminal and the remotely located application server; wherein the assigning comprises assigning the terminal an Internet Protocol address utilizing DHCP, and wherein the automatically downloading comprises: determining a path from an FTP base directory of the remotely located application server to the terminal, the remotely located application server configured to retain control, base-image files, and option image files; downloading files to the terminal; updating a boot block and a non-volatile memory in the terminal; and automatically rebooting the terminal after updating. determining a path from an FTP base directory of the remotely located application server to the terminal, the remotely located application server configured to retain control, base-image files, and option image files; downloading files to the terminal; updating a boot block and a non-volatile memory in the terminal; and automatically rebooting the terminal after updating.