Thin clients have gained a new lease of life recently, largely in response to high-profile data loss incidents and the growing interest around virtual desktops.

Companies such as Wyse Technology report that some customers are equipping workers with a mobile thin client instead of a laptop, so if the device should be stolen, no vital information is lost with it. Meanwhile, vendors have also been pushing the concept of virtual desktops, perhaps hoping that buyers will be drawn by the potential benefits of consolidating physical PCs into virtual ones living in a datacentre.

Critics point to the fact that user acceptance, or rather the lack of it, can be the stumbling block of a thin client strategy. Why would anyone want a thin client instead of a real laptop? But firms cannot let IT decisions be driven by user preferences, especially when it comes to ensuring that confidential information is kept safe.

Many of the traditional drawbacks to thin clients have been or are being overcome. Newer models can handle web-based applications as well as a PC, while Wyse has used its partnership with Microsoft to build in ways of seamlessly supporting multimedia and USB peripherals to give a PC-like experience.

The main obstacle that thin client vendors now need to overcome is that most companies already have PCs, and there will have to be a very compelling reason to make them switch.