In February virtualization.info reported on the fact that Microsoft announced a new Windows 7 version tailored for VDI access, called Windows Thin PC (WinTPC), becoming available for customers who use Software Assurance. Now Microsoft has anounced a public Community Technology Preview (CTP), which is available on its Connect website.
WinTPC is a smaller foodprint, locked down version of Windows 7, which enables customers to install this windows version on existing PCs repurposing them as thin clients which can be used to access Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environments. WinTPC is comparable with Windows XP Fundamentals, which was revealed in 2005.
With the announcement Microsoft also revealed some other features of WinTPC:
- RemoteFX support
- Support for System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), to help deploy and manage WinTPC images.
- Write filter support, preventing user and application writes to disk