The Hurdles To An OS Upgrade

Many companies choose not to upgrade older operating systems and at least part of the reasoning is that it costs too much to upgrade old hardware. There might be a solution on the horizon from Microsoft if companies are willing to use Terminal Server. According to data published on the Bink.nu Web site Microsoft is developing two new thin clients, code named Eiger and Mönch, that are based on Windows XP and will run on older hardware. Both clients would require at least 64MB of RAM, 500MB of disk space, and a Pentium class processor. The requirements probably fit the description of just about every machine out there that still runs Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition (Me).

Both thin clients would support some useful  administrative features including remote installation, unattended setup, management via System Management Server (SMS). They'd both also be able to boot from a hard disk or a flash device. Mönch would have a few features that Eiger doesn't, such as support for VPNs, advanced IP security, and 802.1x authentication.

Sounds very enticing. What do you think about this approach to system upgrades? Is this something that might work in your company or for your customers?