At its essence, Hewitt says, the decision about which client type to utilize is really a choice between maximum functionality and ease of management. February 08, 2013 Key Differences Between Thin Clients and Zero Clients for VDI. The changing nature of work demands devices with features that meet the needs of workplace evolution. After that, some observers thought that tablets might kill off both thick clients and VDI, unifying end-user computing in a sleek, mobile form factor that mostly relied on cloud- or server-hosted apps. âAll of these things that were promised never really happened,â Hewitt says. For instance, some might argue that an Apple iPad is a thick client because of its robust operating system, while others would call it a thin client due to the fact that because it is largely used to connect to cloud apps. Forrester predicts that organizations will increasingly adopt an â80/20 splitâ â with 80 percent of computing tasks being completed on lighter devices such as smartphones, foldable displays, voice speakers and smart glasses. ⢠Although the bulk of tasks will be completed on lighter devices, heavy devices will remain âcrucial,â especially for engineers, designers and data scientists. ⢠The variety of device form factors will continue to expand in size and diversity, ranging from ânearly invisible to extremely tangible.â ⢠Artificial intelligence will become an âintermediaryâ between machines and employees, delivering real-time insights into customers and business operations in ways that drive fewer typing-based interactions. ⢠The need for highly mobile, hands-free solutions will drive investments in wearable devices to support workers such as nurses, retail associates and field technicians. ⢠Users will rely less on full-blown mobile apps to get work done, and will instead utilize microapps that deliver a âsliceâ of the functionality of larger, back-end applications. Vmware 5.5 Thick Client.