Intel joins the network computer rush

Electronic News, Dec 8, 1997 by Cynthia Bournellis

SANTA CLARA, CALIF.--Who says Andy Grove doesn't buy into Larry Ellison and Scott McNealy's dream about the network computer. A company that at one time would defend the personal computer to its death, and still will, Intel is slowly retracting its nails from the spines of the Unix patriots.

As Intel stated last week, it is developing design guidelines for what it is calling a Lean Client, rather than a network computer, or NC--as Intel tries to maintain some level of uniqueness.

The new guidelines also call for a network server that supports a variety of operating environments. With this type of platform in the works, Intel said systems OEMs will be able to make a number of different products, particularly for the terminal upgrade market. But, Lean Clients will more than likely work best with products based on a common computing foundation and management technologies based on Intel's architecture.

With Lean Clients, the server plays a larger role in application processing and system management. The features Intel is defining in the new spec with software and firmware vendors are standard network boot, power management, asset management and optional remote wake-up, all of which would be managed by the server. These are the same features within Intel's Managed PC spec for the NetPC.

The Lean Client reference design calls for embedded Pentium processors, with varying memory, I/O and storage requirements. Prices will start at below $500. The Lean Server guidelines call for Pentium II and Pentium Pro processors. And, selling prices will vary depending on configuration. When implementing network servers for Lean Clients in a Windows NT Server environment, OEMs will be able to utilize the existing Hardware Design Guide Version 1.0 for Windows NT Server.

By embracing the network computing model, Intel can now broaden its user base and answer the market's cries for a sub-$1,000 computer. Several major systems OEMs, including Compaq, IBM, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Packard Bell/NEC and Siemens Nixdorf have given Intel a thumbs-up and said they'll support the new spec. Devices are expected to hit the streets early next year.

Leading software vendors Microsoft, IBM, Citrix, Novell and the Santa Cruz Operation, claimed they have plans to port their products to Lean Clients and Servers. Microsoft is planning a version of Windows CE to support the upgrade of dedicated terminal devices. Windows CE already runs network computers made by Network Computing Devices.

Like Oracle and Sun Microsystems with its NC platform, Intel too believes early adopters of Intel-based Lean Clients will be task workers such as bank tellers, loan operators and purchasing agents. But in reality, these users, or rather their employers, haven't exactly welcomed the network computing model with open arms. The numbers of early adopters, who NC proponents insisted couldn't wait for a thin client, are anything but thick. Even Intel's NetPC platform, which calls for a scaled down, better managed PC for the enterprise has yet to take off, and some OEMs such as IBM have already backed out of the NetPC space.

At the same time, the NC has yet to attract consumers. U.S. shipments of NC clients haven't even doubled since they came on the scene in 1996. International Data Corp. (IDC) gave less than ambitious predictions, estimating that only 367,000 NC clients would ship in the United States by the end of the year.

IDC's market estimates are brighter over the next couple of years, with U.S. unit shipments of NC clients exceeding 700,000 in 1998 and 1.3 million in 1999. Intel's entrance could change the landscape, as support from its hardware minions will more than likely increase. "We don't see it (Lean Client) as a dramatic value proposition, but Intel will bring support and more energy into this area," said Sean Kaldor, a consumer electronics analyst at IDC. So perhaps NCs or thin clients or Lean Clients or skinny clients or anorexic clients or whatever they may be called will stand a fighting chance.