  Computer literacy is not negotiable for any professional in an increasingly
computerised environment. Educational institutions should be equipped to
provide this new basic training for modern life. Accordingly, computer labs are
an essential medium for education in almost any field. Computer labs are one of
the most popular IT infrastructures for technical training in primary and
secondary schools, universities and other educational institutions all over the
world. Unfortunately, a computer lab is expensive, in terms of both initial
purchase and annual maintenance costs, and especially when we want to run the
latest software. Hence, research efforts addressing computer lab efficiency,
performance or cost reduction would have a worldwide repercussion. In response
to this concern, this paper presents a survey on thin client technology for
computer labs in educational environments. Besides setting out the advantages
and drawbacks of this technology, we aim to refute false prejudices against
thin clients, identifying a set of educational scenarios where thin clients are
a better choice and others requiring traditional solutions.
