Information AboutNetwork Computer |
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| network computer brand | |
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Due to the buzz created around the term, and the fact that diskless nodes can be used as Thin Client s, it has also been used more informally to mean simply a Diskless Desktop Computer or a Thin Client . Because many NCs did not use Intel CPUs or Microsoft Software , Microsoft and Intel developed a competing standard called NetPC for the same market, in order to try not to lose too much of their enormous desktop computer Market Share s to the NC upstarts. Cheaper Computing, Part I , ''Byte'' magazine, April 1997 The NC brand was mainly intended to denote a range of desktop computers from various suppliers that - by virtue of their diskless design and use of inexpensive components and software - were supposed to be significantly cheaper and easier to manage than standard Fat Client PCs . However, due to the PC coming down in price, and due to the increasing availability and popularity of various options for using PCs as Diskless Node s, Thin Client s and Hybrid Client s, the NC brand never achieved the popularity hoped for by Oracle's CEO Larry Ellison , and was eventually mothballed. HISTORY The failure of the NC to impact on the scale predicted by Larry Ellison may have been caused by a number of factors. Firstly, the idea could simply have been ahead of its time. At the NC's launch in 1996, the typical home Internet user was using only a Dialup connection via a modem. The common 28.8 kbit/s speeds would simply not be sufficient for the delivery of Executable content. The world wide web itself was not considered mainstream until its breakout year in 1998. Prior to this, very few Internet Service Provider s advertised in mainstream press (at least outside of the USA), and knowledge of the Internet and the web was limited. This could have held back uptake of what would be seen as a very niche device with no (then) obvious appeal. Ironically, these devices end up being used as the very 'dumb terminals' they were intended to replace, as the Proprietary backend infrastructure is not readily available. 1990s era NCs are often network-booted into a minimal Unix with X, to serve as X terminal. While NC purists may consider this to be a suboptimal use of NC hardware, the NCs work well as terminals, and are considerably cheaper than purpose-built terminal hardware. NC STANDARDS AND DRAFTS Reference Profile The initial Network Computing standard, the Network Computer Reference Profile , required that all 'NC' appliances supported HTML , Java , HTTP , JPEG , and other key standards. NC extensions ''This list may be incomplete.''
NC IMPLEMENTATIONS |
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