Microsoft's Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition platform has created quite a stir. Terminal Server is a combination of thin-client-based technology and NT. This technology isn't new. An earlier application of thin-client-based technology is Tektronix' WinDD Server. WinDD—based on Citrix' WinFrame 1.7, a hybrid of NT 3.51—lets UNIX workstation, PC, Macintosh, and other users run NT programs installed on a centralized WinDD server. The thin-client approach offers several advantages, including reduced hardware costs, office infrastructure requirements, and support. In addition, it provides excellent service for low-bandwidth connections and can extend the life of legacy PCs. (For more information about thin-client technology, see "Related Articles in Windows NT Magazine.")
To control the corporate desktop, many WinDD administrators are using mandatory user profiles. (For more information about profiles, see see "Related Articles in Windows NT Magazine.") Mandatory user profiles let you tightly control the look and feel of the desktop over the NT environment and limit what users can access and do. For example, you can restrict the use of screen savers; animated cursors; File, Run commands; and the Office Assistant, because their performance overhead becomes unacceptable in a multiuser system. Mandatory user profiles help reduce troubleshooting and administration costs because users can't easily make undesirable configuration changes, such as inefficient software installs. Surprisingly, users don't usually resist mandatory profiles. Many users appreciate the performance benefits of having servers protected from unauthorized activity. . . .
