In-Depth

The Thin-Client Landscape, Part 2

• By Tom Fenton
• 02/03/2026

In Part 1 of this article, I examined the consolidation of the thin-client market and the major hardware and software vendors in it. This included giants such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo. I found that while these manufacturers continue to sell devices, they often treat the operating system as a commodity, frequently relying on third-party solutions such as IGEL or 10ZiG to provide the operating system and its management layer. Thin-client vendors are pivoting toward software-defined endpoints; in fact, IGEL has stopped selling hardware altogether, while 10ZiG occupies a unique "bridge" position, simultaneously maintaining its own hardware line while offering its own operating system for installation on x86 systems.

In this article, I will provide a checklist to help you define your endpoint strategy and, to give a complete picture of the landscape, I will also examine zero clients and explain how these devices differ from standard thin clients.

Hopefully, by the end of these articles, I will have provided you with guidance on selecting the right endpoint strategy for your organization, whether it involves repurposing old PCs with software or investing in dedicated thin client devices.

Thin Client Buying Checklist
While the hardware for thin clients has largely been standardized on x86 architecture, the software varies among vendors, each with different capabilities, market niches, and costs. Since end users' first experience with remote desktops and applications is through a thin client, the thin client must provide an excellent user experience. Additionally, it should be as user-friendly and supportive for IT teams as possible.

Below is a checklist of considerations for selecting a thin client.

1. Define Your Use Cases
Identify what types of users you're supporting: task workers, knowledge workers, power users, or specialized roles (healthcare, finance, manufacturing). This determines required CPU capability, RAM, number of monitors, USB support, protocols, and any other special needs your users or applications have.

2. Confirm Protocol Compatibility
Ensure the device supports the remote-display technologies you rely on. For most environments, this means Citrix Workspace/ICA, VMware Blast/PCoIP, and Microsoft RDP/AVD/Windows 365. Look for hardware acceleration for these protocols if you have multimedia or multi-monitor requirements.

3. Evaluate Management Platform Quality
Modern thin client success is driven by centralized management. Compare vendors' management consoles for features such as mass patching, profile-based configuration, remote control, granular security policies, and cloud management. The cost of the management can be a significant line item, so do not forget to include it when considering a solution.

4. Check Security Features
Look for secure boot, firmware locking, write-protected OS images, and strong authentication integration (smart cards, FIDO2, MFA). Your policies may require zero endpoints, making them more difficult to tamper with.

5. Assess Longevity & Support
Thin clients often stay in service 5-8 years. Review vendor firmware update policies, OS lifecycle, warranty options, and whether they offer advanced replacement or on-site service. Check the vendor's history of supporting older hardware.

6. Consider Peripheral & Workspace Requirements
Evaluate USB redirection for webcams, headsets, signature pads, printers, and specialty devices. Confirm monitor support (resolution, number of displays) and whether the device can handle 4K or high-refresh desktops if needed.

7. Look at Deployment & Imaging Options
Some vendors provide streamlined onboarding, cloud-based provisioning, or profile cloning. This can significantly reduce rollout time, especially for large environments. If you are repurposing devices, try to do so remotely.

8. Management Costs
Hardware and operating system costs alone are misleading, as devices with superior manageability often have a lower total cost of ownership. Factor in hardware, licensing (OS and management console), support, energy use, and the frequency with which the device needs local support.

9. Validate Vendor Stability & Ecosystem Fit
Ensure the vendor is committed to thin clients and maintains strong partnerships with Citrix, Microsoft, and VMware. Consider whether their hardware, OS, and management tools align well with your existing VDI/DaaS platforms.

10. Request a Pilot Program
Before large-scale purchase, test a handful of units with your real workflows, peripherals, and network conditions. This reveals protocol quirks, management gaps, and performance issues that specs alone won't show.

11. Support
Make sure your vendor has a service-level agreement (SLA) that meets your needs. This includes hours of operation, country of support (some governments require this), and their relationship with their hardware or software partners.

Example Buyer Checklist
Below is an example of the requirements for one company's thin-client needs. This, when combined with the checklist above, gave the customer a framework for evaluating the various thin-client vendors.

• A secure and reliable thin client operating system with a proven record of success

• Support for Horizon VDI (Blast)

• Ability to run SaaS applications using a secure browser locally

• Reusability for future DaaS (AVD) program

• Be able to convert Windows 10 PC's remotely using Intune

• Access to hardware and software for evaluation before final commitment

• Easy connection to remote assets

• An intuitive and easy-to-use management console

• Boot and run off a USB stick if needed

• Flat, simple, transparent pricing model

• Preference for a single vendor to provide and support the operating system and the hardware

• Reasonable cost for the OS and its management

Using the checklist and requirements, they narrowed the list of vendors that met their requirements.

Zero Clients vs. Thin Clients
I would be remiss if I didn't delve into Zero Clients, how they differ from thin clients, and the major vendors in this space.

A zero client is the simplest and most secure endpoint device in a VDI or DaaS environment. Unlike a standard PC or even a thin client, a zero client possesses no local operating system, no hard drive, no local storage, and no independent processing capability for applications. It functions essentially as a dedicated endpoint, utilizing specialized firmware to perform a single task: receiving encrypted screen pixels from the data center, decoding them, and displaying them on the monitor. Because it lacks a "brain" of its own, the device transmits user input, such as mouse movements and keystrokes, back to the server for processing; consequently, if disconnected from the network, a zero client becomes functionally useless.

The fundamental difference between a thin client and a zero client lies in their architecture and management requirements. While a thin client runs a lightweight operating system such as Linux or Windows IoT on local flash storage, allowing it to support multiple connection protocols and peripheral drivers, a zero client is typically purpose-built for a single protocol, such as PCoIP or Citrix HDX. This specialization makes the zero client significantly more secure, as it lacks a local operating system that could be vulnerable to malware or data theft. From a management perspective, this creates a "set and forget" experience where administrators rarely need to touch the device. In contrast, thin clients still require routine patching and updates for their local OS and browsers. Furthermore, because zero clients often use dedicated hardware decoding, they frequently offer superior performance for high-fidelity graphics compared to thin clients, which rely on general-purpose CPUs.

The market for zero clients is somewhat niche and dominated by vendors specializing in high-security and high-performance environments. HP became a central player in this space following its acquisition of Teradici, the creator of the PCoIP protocol, allowing it to license "Trusted Zero Client" technology to other manufacturers while selling its own devices. 10ZiG stands out by offering a unique hybrid approach with their "NOS" platform, which effectively turns hardware into a zero client by locking a tiny Linux kernel to a single connection broker, offering the speed of a zero client with slightly more hardware flexibility.

For mission-critical sectors such as defense and finance, companies like ClearCube and Amulet Hotkey provide ruggedized, high-security hardware capable of handling complex multi-monitor setups and supporting sensitive data isolation. Meanwhile, consumer giants like LG and Samsung focus on clean-desk environments by integrating the zero-client chip directly into the monitor bezel, creating an all-in-one solution. Finally, Dell remains a significant player through its Wyse product line, which includes widely deployed PCoIP models. However, it has recently shifted focus toward thin clients that emulate the zero-client experience through software.

Which Thin Client Should You Use
Below is a summary of the pros and cons of the major independent thin client providers.

IGEL OS 12

IGEL is a player in the software-defined endpoint market, treating hardware strictly as a commodity. Its strategy involves completely wiping the device's existing operating system and replacing it with its Linux-based thin client OS.

The devices are managed by the sophisticated Universal Management Suite (UMS), a powerful and complex management platform. With over 7,000 granular policy settings, it appeals to enterprises but may prove overwhelming for smaller organizations. IGEL supports major unified communications (UC) applications, including Microsoft, Zoom, and Cisco. It offers some interesting features, including the ability to run virtual machines and enterprise browsers. However, the primary drawbacks are its cost and licensing model: IGEL has transitioned to a recurring subscription called Cosmos, which requires organizations to commit to perpetual payments to keep their devices managed and updated.

ThinScale ThinKiosk

ThinScale takes a fundamentally different approach by locking down the device's existing Windows operating system rather than replacing it. ThinKiosk runs as a secure shell on top of Windows, restricting the user interface to the VDI gateway only. While this allows organizations to leverage familiar Windows management tools such as SCCM or Intune and to use local Windows drivers for peripheral compatibility, it presents a significant risk regarding the Windows 10 End of Support. It appears that there is a Windows 11 IoT version, but it does not seem to be widely deployed. Because the underlying OS remains Windows 10, the kernel will no longer receive security patches after October 2025 unless the organization purchases Extended Security Updates (ESU) from Microsoft. Consequently, ThinKiosk is often better suited for BYOD scenarios where the organization does not own the underlying OS than for repurposing corporate assets, where the goal is to eliminate Windows maintenance and security issues.

10ZiG RepurpOS, PeakOS, NOS

10ZiG occupies a unique niche as a full-service vendor of zero and thin-client hardware and software. You can buy their devices with their own zero or thin-client OS preinstalled, or, with RepurpOS, wipe the legacy operating system from a device and replace it with their own secure thin-client operating system. The standout feature here is cost-efficiency: not only is its subscription price very competitive, but the 10ZiG Manager is free, with no license limits, making it a robust tool for most VDI deployments without the price tag of its enterprise competitors. In terms of unified communications, it includes redirection plugins for Zoom VDI, Microsoft Teams, and WebEx. RepurpOS can be used as a bridge solution for those who want to eventually move to 10ZiG's own hardware.

Citrix Endpoint OS

Following its acquisition of Unicon, Citrix now offers a fully verticalized solution in which the endpoint OS is a native extension of the Citrix platform. Its strategy involves using the Win2eLux migration tool to replace an existing device's Windows operating system with its eLux thin-client OS. Management is handled by the Scout Enterprise Management Suite, a highly scalable tool designed for massive deployments that integrates deeply with Citrix Cloud to provide end-to-end visibility from the datacenter to the device edge. Scout does allow third-party extensions, but its ecosystem does not seem as extensive as some others. It offers optimization for the Citrix HDX protocol and supports Unified Communications tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. The primary trade-off is vendor lock-in; while this creates a seamless "one hand to shake" support experience, it commits the organization heavily to the Citrix ecosystem, potentially complicating future migrations if the business decides to switch VDI or DaaS providers to Omnissa (formerly VMware) or Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop.

Final Thoughts
The thin-client landscape has evolved from simple terminals into a stratified market defined by massive consolidation and a pivot toward software-defined endpoints. Commodity hardware giants like Dell and HP increasingly rely on third-party operating systems to repurpose legacy assets. The industry's three major players have fractured into three strategic approaches: Citrix's closed vertical stack, IGEL's horizontal software-only layer, and 10ZiG's unique hybrid model offering both proprietary hardware and flexible software.

As the modern workspace shifts to a blend of VDI, DaaS, and WebApps, the choice of vendor ultimately hinges on the company's ability to support mixed access models seamlessly while avoiding the growing risks of vendor and technology lock-in and rigid and expensive licensing for the OS and its management portal.