[THIN] Re: CE thins and nFuse
- From: "King, Jesse" <JKing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 12:25:16 -0400
I feel naive - can someone tell me what HTA is?
Thanks.
-----Original Message-----
From: Braebaum, Neil [mailto:Neil.Braebaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 11:56 AM
To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [THIN] Re: CE thins and nFuse
Just thought I'd chip in with some feedback - whether it's of interest, or
not, is debatable ;-)
My NFuse users are currently Mac users. I had considered NFuse / WI or
possibly MSAM for a few hundred remote locations that currently access a
published desktop via legacy Wyse Winterms (mainly 2315s some later 3000
series).
I've always deployed a very stripped down desktop - mandatory profiles,
extensive policy and scripting. I had a request to make the desktop more
"simple", appliance like, if you will - and with the ability to have a
portion of the screen as a sort of notice board, with updateable messages.
I did consider a portal approach, here - either modified NFuse / WI or MSAM.
Neither would have particularly suited the cosmetic look and feel that
management wanted, nor truly the flexibility. And with MSAM, I would have no
obvious single-sign-on, with a published browser session (at least without
other products).
So what I've done is stripped down the desktop even more, removed all icons,
and have an extremely small / basic start menu (basically just has a link to
the "desktop", and logout), and run a HTA as the desktop. My reason for
still having a desktop, even being as minimal (truly!) as it is, is that the
flexibility of being able to switch between apps using the taskbar, was
still likely needed.
So I run a HTA as the desktop (it appears like the wallpaper, really - no
borders or menus) - the source isn't viewable, nor does it appear in the
taskbar. Only one instance of it can run. On the HTA is big, chunky, buttons
to the main, line-of-business apps - which is what was really required - the
simplest, most obvious link to the business app(s), and an upper portion of
the HTA is a frame displaying (with fairly frequent refreshes) a sort of
notice board. I've also written a sister HTA for the operations people so
that they can update the message / noticeboard area with their HTML file of
choice (it is constricted within it's frame, though, in the HTA).
Some of this was based on the rationale that without a local browser, the
NFuse / WI model may still be tenable - but there are other choices, too.
This was mainly driven by business needs to make the desktop as simple and
as encouraging to make the business apps as easy as possible to get to.
Neil
-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Oglesby [mailto:roglesby@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 23 September 2003 16:24
To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [THIN] Re: CE thins and nFuse
I have done this (but not for a thousand users) I am also planning one right
now for about 600 or so to access this way.
Any. The concept with NFuse is simple. Have the CE client launch to
anonymous NFuse (published IE). Then the users can sign into that and launch
applications.
Alternatively you can have a STRIPPED down desktop with a taskbar. From
within the desktop they can use NFuse. BUT I have found that often times it
is better to give users the ability to run all the apps right from that
desktop (even using the passthrough client to launch apps from other silos)
But to address your individual questions:
Is it possible to achieve a user bombproof environment with nFuse (Web
Interface) on CE devices and still maintain the taskbar?
Maintaining a taskbar mean giving them a desktop (even if stripped) Bomb
proof would mean mandatory profiles with maybe a flex or hybrid mixed in.
That is about as close to bomb proof as you can get. BUT any desktop is a
hole, never forget that.
What are the pitfalls of CE devices, other than the inability to have any
local apps?.
Not anything you would want to run.... And generally these devices don't
have enough CE to do anything other than connect to a server.
How was your experience with implementation?
Been good in most cases. I don't like giving the user a desktop if I don't
have to. If I do I give them mandatory profiles. If they gripe about saving
settings I then add in the flex or hybrid profile kit so the admins
determine what is saved and not the user.
How do users like the environment?
Just fine once they get done gripping. You have to find a balance between
giving them anything they want and not giving them anything. I found that
these are easiest when moving them from older slower machines.
Any other comments?
Not now.
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