Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs

Windows FLP

Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs ("WinFLP") is a thin client operating system from Microsoft, based on Windows XP Embedded, but optimized for older, less powerful hardware. It was released on July 8, 2006.
Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs is not a full-fledged general
purpose operating system. It includes only certain functionality for
local workloads such as security, management, document viewing related
tasks and the .NET Framework. It is designed to work as a client-server solution with RDP clients or other third party clients such as Citrix ICA.

History
WinFLP was originally announced with codenames "Eiger" and "Mönch" (names of mountains in the Swiss Alps) in mid-2005.
The RTM version of Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs was released on July 8, 2006.

Technical specifications
The installer for WinFLP uses the Windows XP bootscreen.

Features
Microsoft positions WinFLP as an operating system that provides
basic computing services on older hardware, while still providing core
management features of more recent Windows releases, such as Windows Firewall, Group Policy, Automatic Updates, and other management services. However, it is not considered to be a general-purpose OS by Microsoft.^[1]

Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs is a Windows XP Embedded
derivative and, as such, is optimized for legacy PCs. It requires
significantly less system resources than the fully-featured Windows XP.^[2]

WinFLP supports most Windows XP/2000 applications and drivers. It also features basic networking, extended peripheral support, DirectX, and the ability to launch the remote desktop clients from compact discs. In addition, WinFLP offers support for local applications, as well as those hosted on a remote server using Remote Desktop. It can be installed on a local hard drive, or configured to run on a diskless workstation.

Issues and limitations
Some expect more out of Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PC's, since
it has fewer features than Windows XP. For example, some software, such
as Outlook Express, is unavailable, even with a full install. Games and
some system tools are also excluded from WinFLP.[3]
In addition, the operating system does not include full support for
terminal-based connections, the joystick calibration control panel
(JOY.CPL), the NULL.SYS software device (used by Cygwin to implement /dev/null).^[4]

WinFLP may have some compatibility issues with certain older applications and drivers.

Availability
Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs is exclusively available to Software Assurance customers, as it is designed to be an inexpensive upgrade option for corporations that have a number of Windows 9x computers, but lack the hardware necessary to support the latest Windows. It is not available through retail or OEM channels.

Microsoft has announced that a specialized version of Service Pack 3
for Windows XP will be made for WinFLP, with plans to release it three
months after general availability of the mainstream version of SP3.

Hardware requirements
Despite being more optimized for older PCs, the hardware requirements are similar to Windows XP.

	Minimum requirements	Recommended requirements
Processor	233 MHz Pentium class processor or higher	300 MHz Pentium class processor or higher
RAM	64 MB	128 MB
Free hard drive space	610 MB	1 GB
Display	800 x 600 or higher display resolution