Kids, Computers and XenClient
Up until now, my kids have been using our MacBooks (with our oversight), which is great because they are simple to use, easy to learn, and their applications (such as Kidoz and KidZui) are quick to open from the LaunchBar.
However, as Amy is now learning ICT at school, I am planning to re-jig the setup at home to make the transition back and forth between school and home more consistent - this means primarily a desktop machine with Windows.
A couple of thoughts here - firstly, we've two kids, so what you do with one, you do with the other - therefore two machines are required. Secondly, it would be nice to keep costs down (i.e. ebay), and thirdly, make the setup as useful as possible, both to them... and to me :)
After a few different thoughts, I've decided to experiment with implementing a XenClient solution, a type-1 bare-metal hypervisor - it's free on standalone systems, and allows multiple virtual operating systems to be used at the same time, but without loosing out on performance like you might see with type-2 solution such as VMware Workstation or VirtualBox installed on top of the operating system. On each of the kids PCs, they'll have their own locked down Windows VM, plus possibly another with Edubuntu, while I'll have my own VMs to connect into other parts of my lab.
So, I've already checked what I can reuse of the kit I already have - of my spare desktops, a Dell OptiPlex 740, and a Dell OptiPlex 745 seem likely candidates (8GB of RAM each, as I've been using them as Hyper-V hosts). Any Dell system ending in a '5' will be Intel based, while '0' are generally AMD systems.
With the latest release of XenClient 2.0, it's now possible to run on non-vPro systems - this means as long as you have VT-x, you should now be able to use XenClient, though with just 2D support on those systems, as long as Intel integrated graphics are present. On vPro systems (i.e. those that also support VT-d), you'll get the full 3D support, and therefore, for example, all the Window Aero, OpenGL and DirectX support on Windows 7.
Looking over my own two OptiPlex machines, the Intel based 745 does not have vPro technology, but does support VT-x. I ran through a quick XenClient install, but while being reminded that the system did not support VT-d, it did allow me to proceed. However, I quickly hit a road-block a couple of screens further on, when it could not detect any hard disks, kindly advising to enable AHCI in the BIOS... not possible, as the option does not exist.
On the 740, being AMD, I didn't expect much success, which proved to be true - it didn't even reach the installation screen, with my monitor complaining of being unable to display the video mode.
So after some further researching, the Dell OptiPlex 755 seems like the next best option, fully supporting vPro, and so fully capable of supporting XenClient 2.0 - this was further confirmed on the Xen Wiki. The 755 also has the bios option to enable / disable AHCI support.
I am now planning on picking up two 755 systems, along with a couple of refurbished Dell 19" LCD monitors - when you've two kids of similar age, everything has to be the same... trust me :) In the mean time, I am going to install Windows 7 on the 740 / 745, and remind myself of the Windows 7 parental control options, possibly also revisit the latest version of Norton Online Family.
