IBM Corp says it has always recognized that one size doesn’t fit all, and that is why its Network Station thin client will now support Citrix Systems Inc’s Metaframe and Microsoft Corp’s newly released Windows Terminal Server for NT 4.0 (CI No 3,434). Pete Jakob, IBM marketing manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa, says from its launch, the Network Station supported Windows applications through an X-Windows protocol, and now adds the full Citrix Independent Computing Architecture ICA support, enabling applications to be executed fully on the server, with only the user interface displayed on the Network Station. The company has also released version 3.0 of its Network Station Manager software, including several upgrades, in particular one that Jakob says is key, namely national language support in more than 30 languages, which Jakob says makes it the first thin client to enable users around the world to use language-specific keyboards and to read on-screen system messages and instruction manuals in their native languages. It will also have Euro currency support by the end of this year. The Network Station is apparently agnostic in terms of operating system, and works with all IBM servers including AS/400, RS/6000 and S/390 mainframes as well as major Unix systems with its VT terminal emulation. However Jakob says the fact that Microsoft is now backing the thin client approach for Windows access is a good and positive thing.
