Cheshire County Council currently deploys Windows2000 as its standard PC operating system. Prior to this Cheshire used Windows98 and continues to support a mixed economy of devices with approximately 5000 Windows2000 clients and 400 Windows98
clients. With ISV (Independent Software Vendor) support for Windows98 drawing to a
close Cheshire County Council faced the prospect of needing to purchase new
replacements for the remaining 400 Windows98 devices. The vast majority of these are
deployed within Cheshire’s Community Services department.

Cheshire’s Community Services department has invested heavily in Thin-client technology to deploy a corporate application and maximise the ratio of workstations to staff. This use of Thin-client technology presented an opportunity to look into reusing the Windows98 PCs as Thin-client devices, therefore delaying the need to invest in new equipment.