Windows Thin PC (WinTPC) Community Technology Preview (CTP) is now available.

The successor to WinFLP (Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs) , Windows Thin PC (WinTPC) , is now available as a Community Technology Preview (CTP). It’s especially interesting because of RemoteFX.

Windows Thin PC (WinTPC) is a smaller footprint version of Windows 7 that allows customers to repurpose existing PCs as thin clients without requiring the VDA license to access VDI desktops. WinTPC replaces WinFLP.  In addition, WinTPC will offer:

• Rich VDI experience through support for RemoteFX
• Improved end point security by denying certain disk writes via filters
• Enterprise-grade management support through System Center

WinTPC is available as an .iso file.  Windows Thin PC is based on Windows 7 and benefits from many of the new features available in Windows 7 that are sure to enhance Thin PC deployments, including:

Security Enhancements
Building upon the security enhancements of Windows 7, Windows Thin PC responds to the enterprise’s need to make the system more manageable and to contain the right security enhancements to help combat the continually evolving threat landscape. While not an exhaustive list, there are a number of features that will help to better secure your device, including AppLocker, BitLocker, Enhanced Auditing, and Streamlined User Account Control. For additional information about the Security Enhancements, please refer to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd548337(WS.10).aspx.

Power Management
Today, more organizations are focusing on power management as a way of reducing costs. Windows 7 power-management technologies provide platform and processor efficiencies that reduce power consumption, helping lower energy costs. The following video will provide an introduction to some of the power management features available to Windows Thin PC: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ee524728.

Embedded Enhancements
In addition to Windows 7 functionality, Windows Thin PC has incorporated a number of embedded specific enhancements to help lock down public facing devices, including Write Filters for creating stateless or semi-stateless environments, suppression of unwanted dialog message boxes, and a keyboard filter for suppressing unwanted keystrokes such as CTRL+ALT+DEL, ALT+F4, Windows+L, as well as custom defined keystroke combinations.

Hardware Requirements
Recommended Hardware Configuration
- 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 GB RAM, 16 GB available hard disk space
- DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or later version driver
- Bootable DVD-ROM drive

NOTE: Microsoft recommends that you install Windows Thin PC on a computer that has at least 16 GB of available disk space. Various features in Windows Thin PC can quickly increase the disk space requirements. For optimal performance of the hard disk, you need at least 15 percent free space at all times and sufficient space for the paging file, which might be up to two times the size of the system’s RAM.

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