This is the most critical part of this review. The hardware is useless without the software.
In its Prime: When configured correctly on a robust network, the XD3 offered surprising performance. For standard office tasks (Word, Excel, web browsing), the user experience was nearly indistinguishable from a standalone PC. It handled multimedia (YouTube, standard video files) reasonably well for its time, thanks to NComputing’s proprietary compression algorithms.
Limitations:
The XD3 was typically small and lightweight, designed to be mounted to the back of a monitor (VESA mount compatible) to create a clutter-free workspace.
The XD3 functioned essentially as a "dumb terminal" or zero client. It had no CPU, no local hard drive, and no operating system to manage or patch. This significantly reduced the maintenance overhead for IT administrators, as all software updates and virus scans were performed solely on the host computer.