The first NetPC prototypes out of the gate show potential for reducing system costs, but their limitations as PCs make them unappealing as a corporate desktop standard.

PC Week Labs tested preproduction versions of the IBM NetPC and Hewlett-Packard Co. NetVectra, both slated for preview this week at PC Expo in New York.

In our tests, the systems exploited remote management technologies found on HP's and IBM's traditional corporate desktop systems, allowing for easy operating system and application downloads.

However, by their very nature, NetPCs leave little room for growth. The "sealed box" design does offer security and is appropriate for applications such as point of sale, but the trade-off is a very narrow upgrade path for more mainstream applications.

Furthermore, IBM and HP have not finished key components of their systems. And conspicuous by its absence is Microsoft Corp.'s Zero Administration Windows tool kit, one of the key components of the NetPC architecture. Without this piece, it is unclear how these systems will stack up against NCs in terms of developing and deploying custom applications.

We also question whether these systems will pack the necessary power to last five years on the corporate desktop. IBM's NetPC is more in tune with corporate needs; in its base configuration, the system provides a 166MHz Pentium with MMX Technology processor and a 2.5GB hard drive. A base-configured HP NetVectra provides a 166MHz Pentium processor and a 1GB drive. In this configuration the NetVectra costs $999. IBM has not announced pricing for its NetPC.

Compared with network computers, NetPC prices--which will fall in the $1,000 to $1,300 range--are competitive. A Boundless Technologies' ViewPoint TC Model 200 NC, for example, costs $799.

IBM also will offer a 200MHz MMX Pentium version of the NetPC with a 2.5GB hard drive; HP plans a 166MHz MMX Pentium version of the NetVectra with a 1.6GB hard drive.

The most compelling feature of IBM's NetPC in our tests was its ability to work with the company's LCCM (LANClient Control Manager) software. Introduced in April with IBM's latest PC 300 desktops, LCCM is a remote management package that allows administrators to download BIOS and operating systems as well as run virus scans on systems with IBM's Wake-on-LAN Ethernet controller.

In our tests, downloading Windows 95 simply required clicking on the IBM NetPC's MAC (Media Access Control) address, listed in LCCM. When the NetPC restarted itself, it booted from the network, downloading an installation program and operating system image from the network to the client. The LCCM then rebooted the system, installing the operating system from the NetPC's hard drive.

While the ability to boot from the network and download software is a NetPC specification requirement, LCCM's Remote Program Load is not one of the NetPC standard implementations for remote boot. IBM officials said support will be added for the two NetPC standards, DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) and TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol), by the time the IBM NetPC ships in September.

The 10/100 network adapter in HP's NetVectra currently supports DHCP and TFTP, although we were unable to test the system's remote boot capabilities.

In addition, the system leverages the innovations that appeared with HP's Vectra XA series, including TopTools, SafeOff and SafeLock software.

The SafeLock feature allowed us to lock the NetVectra's Windows NT desktop, either by pressing a button on the operator panel or by clicking the SafeLock icon on the NT taskbar.

Another security feature included with the prototype was a keyboard with a smart card reader. HP plans to use the reader as a means to enter user name and password during the NT log-on, but the application was incomplete on the system we tested.

Source: PC Week