Responding to rumors about a new thin-client version of Windows XP, Microsoft confirmed that it is working on a slimmed-down edition of Windows XP, code-named Eiger. Although few technical details are available, Eiger would allow Microsoft to provide a platform for a tightly managed and secure desktop based on Windows XP SP2 and also suggests that Microsoft is concerned about Linux gaining a toehold on the desktop as organizations try to extend the life of their existing hardware.

Windows Embedded for Legacy PCs

To create a slimmed-down version of Windows XP capable of running on older hardware, Microsoft will likely leverage Windows XP Embedded (XPe) and Windows Terminal Services (TS). Windows XPe allows the creation of an OS image with only the components needed to support the hardware and desired applications. Although typically used to create special-purpose devices, such as a retail kiosk, Windows XPe could conceivably be used to create an OS image for computers with older processors. This image would contain only the components needed to support a few applications running locally and a terminal services client, such as those employed by Windows Terminal Services or Citrix, to enable users to run other applications from a server.

An Eiger-based computer will run applications such as Internet Explorer (IE) and Windows Media Player. Users will be able to view (but not create or edit) Office files by using free document viewers, such as a PowerPoint viewer, since Eiger is not likely to meet the performance requirements for Office itself.

However, applications with intensive processor requirements or complex configurations, such as Office or an organization's thick-client line-of-business applications, could be accessed via terminal services or host emulation from an Eiger-based computer, or run on more powerful "blade PCs" located in a data center but accessed from thin clients.

Cost Critical to Success

Microsoft has not provided any details on how Eiger will be made available, or what it will cost.

Availability. Eiger will likely go into a beta during 2005 and become generally available in 2006. Because the product is designed for use with existing hardware, it is not likely to be available through OEMs.

Cost. Because Eiger appears to target organizations rather than consumers (due to the requirement for some form of terminal services and its inability to run many applications), it is likely to be offered as an enhancement to existing licensing agreements, such as the Enterprise Agreement.

But cost could be the biggest barrier for Eiger adoption—if customers cannot afford to upgrade their hardware, they may also be unwilling to pay the software acquisition and installation costs of Eiger, including the necessary terminal services software and Windows Server Client Access Licenses that would be required to access and run applications.

Getting Current, Stopping Linux

Microsoft says the primary goal of Eiger is to provide organizations that cannot afford to upgrade their hardware, and therefore are still running older versions of Windows such as NT 4.0 or Windows 98, a way to get the latest manageability and security improvements of Windows XP SP2. Barry Goffe, a group product manager in the Windows division, indicates that Eiger can run on a system with as old a processor as a Pentium II.

Eiger could allow Microsoft to offer customers who still want a Windows-based solution the improved management and security benefits of Windows XP on the older, deployed hardware and therefore keep the customer in the Windows fold.

But Linux has gained a foothold in some organizations with limited budgets and large numbers of inexpensive or older machines, such as schools. Eiger could help prevent Linux from gaining further traction in such markets.

Some partners, such as Wyse and Network Computing Devices, already create thin-client Windows terminals based on Windows CE or Windows XPe today. Such terminals, which typically work with a terminal services solution and also run some applications locally, offer a cost-effective solution for the task-oriented desktop or workstation. Eiger could potentially compete with these existing solutions.

Resources

Background on Microsoft's Embedded Strategy and Windows XP Embedded is available in "Embedded OS Roadmap Shows Little Change" on page 6 of the Sept. 2004 Update.

Blade PCs are described in "Remote Desktop Licenses Enable Blade PCs" on page 36 of the Oct. 2004 Update.

Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services information is detailed at www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/terminalservices/default.mspx.

Partners who provide support for Windows Terminal Server solutions are listed at www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/partners/termsrvs.mspx.