www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980217S0005
Johnston, InformationWeek A closely watched thin-client computing company is moving toward a strategy that would deal a giant blow to Java-based NC proponents such as Sun Microsystems. Federal Express, after months of testing different thin clients -- including Sun's JavaStations -- for a planned deployment of up to 75,000 desktops, is now focusing on a Microsoft Windows-oriented approach that includes both PCs and Win-based terminals. FedEx said it is not ready to award a contract for the full deployment, which sources said could be worth as much as $75 million. But several factors have caused FedEx to move away from Java-based NCs toward the Microsoft platform. Low-end PC prices are falling well below $1,000 -- less than some Java-capable NCs. Several NC vendors, including Wyse, have started making Win-based terminals designed to work with Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Terminal Server NT server software, which also lets PCs act as terminals. Also, some NC efforts, including Sun's, have been delayed. In 2001, FedEx said it plans to replace its mainframe systems with a setup that uses HP and Sun Unix servers and hundreds of NT servers, supporting up to 75,000 clients. The plan calls for a thin-client architecture that will centralize corporate applications on the server, reducing administration and software installation costs. FedEx is looking at Win terminals, which can cost $500 or less, for users who only need to access custom applications running on servers, and low-end or diskless PCs for users who also need to run packaged and Java-based applications on the desktop. FedEx is considering both Citrix Systems' WinFrame server software for supporting Win terminals and Microsoft's Terminal Server, based on WinFrame and due to ship by midyear. FedEx's new direction is bad news for Sun, which said it had hoped a big deal would validate the JavaStation, delayed several times due to problems with its JavaOS. Sun said the JavaStation will ship by the end of March, 18 months after it was announced. Another problem for Sun is JavaStations cannot boot from NT servers, a FedEx requirement. Sun said it plans to produce software to address that problem this year, said Jim Hebert, general manager of embedded systems software at Sun, in Mountain View, Calif.
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