Digital Equipment Corp. is making moves for the thin-client arena with the development of a series of new machines.

Among the hardware the Maynard, Mass., company is readying are Windows NT-based Windows Terminals, NetPCs and Java-based NCs (network computers), said company officials at PC Expo here last week.

The Windows Terminal is based on Microsoft Corp.'s multiuser version of Windows NT, code-named Hydra. Prototypes of the devices are being built for several customers who plan to implement the machines in pilot test programs.

Digital's NC will run on Network Computer Inc.'s NC application software and will be based on Digital's low-power StrongARM processor. The processor is already used in other vendors' NCs.

Digital is planning an NC pilot test for the fourth quarter, company officials said.

Specific time frames for commercial availability of the Windows Terminals or NCs were not provided.

In addition, Digital previewed at PC Expo a NetPC prototype, which is scheduled for release by the end of the year.

Despite the breadth of forthcoming choices in hardware, a recent internal reorganization has put more emphasis on a single point of customer contact.

As a result, customers will be able to deal with one Digital representative who will bring together internal and external teams to execute a product strategy.

The moves reflect Digital's attempt to morph itself from a product company to a "solutions" company that can tailor-fit a variety of approaches to solve IT business problems, according to Howard Elias, vice president of the Windows NT systems business unit at Digital.

"Together with our partners, we will be able to devise almost any strategy, whether it's moving from green screens to [Windows] terminals or NCs or getting customers to architect an E-commerce infrastructure," Elias said.