This is new?

Unix workstations have used similar technology for years and years and .... What wheel will Dell re-invent next?

I already have a bunch of servers and pc's are dirt cheap... why the hell would I want to spend $1,100 (USD) on a single software seat and how ever much more for a stripped down PC to run the $1,100 software?

Woo hoo... yes, Unix has been doing this badly for ages and it took Dell to come along and do this well with Windows. Possibly even well enough that the masses will use it... something the Unix world can't claim.

In every technology there are pioneers and then those who bring it to the masses. Apple may have had a recycle bin prior to 1995 and the guys at PARC had it well before they did, but it took M$ to bring it to the masses just as Dell has the potential to bring this technology to the little guy who just wants something that works well out of the box.

And i've just finished building a new diskless Gentoo *nix node (well i say finished, it's emerging X as we speak) But the last time i tried this it ran far faster than windows does, the reason? *nix servers the DISK from the server, Windows serves the DISPLAY.

Most of the time disk throughput for surfing the web, office and so on minimal - but the display traffic is quite a lot.

the *nix way is better in this respect (also means the user is less likely to know how to fiddle with it)

Regarding BWS's comment about the pricing of the solution, I'm pretty sure from the news release that the pricing is $1,100 per seat, *inclusive* of all hardware, including the server and software (assuming a quantity of 100 clients and one server). The software licenses are pretty negligible and the clients are a little cheaper than usual as you are omitting the hard disk, so that almost pays for the server by the time you get to 100 clients. As a former IT guy, I would imagine this technology would let you cut your desktop support staff by half or more.