Wyse has responded to a booming market for Linux-based thin clients by revising its Linux-based thin-client operating system. Version 3.2 of the “Wyse-enhanced Linux” operating system is available on 5000-series Winterm clients, targeting organizations looking for a gradual transition into a full Linux-based… environment.

Wyse sells thin clients based on a number of operating systems, but the company says the Linux thin-client market is hot, citing IDC figures suggesting 43 percent year-over-year growth in Q4, 2003. In 2003, Linux accounted for nearly 20 percent of worldwide thin-client market, according to IDC. IDC has ranked Wyse first among thin-client vendors seven years running.

Wyse first entered the Linux-based terminal market in July, 2003, introducing the $399 Winterm 5125SE and $499 5455XL. The former is a low-end terminal limited to server-based applications, while the latter is a higher-end Java-enabled platform that can run local applications.

The new Wyse Linux implementation is based on Linux kernel 2.4.19, according to Sr. Product Manager Junaid Qurashi. It features a local Mozilla 1.6 browser (Winterm 5455XL only, pictured at right) in place of the Netscape 4.77 browser previously offered; support for the latest version of Wyse's Rapport management software; and VPN support based on an open source PPTP (point-to-point tunneling) package. The OS also supports the latest ICA and RDP protocols, according to Wyse, in order to work with Citrix and Microsoft server-based applications. The RDP implementation is based on the 1.3 version of Rdesktop, an open source package.

“The latest release of Wyse's improved Linux support is just one step in a series of Linux-based announcements planned for Wyse,” said Mike DeNeffe, senior director of the Wyse Winterm business line.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.