Citrix Sets New Standard for Desktop Virtualization
August 24 2011 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Citrix Systems today announced a new version of its
market-leading Citrix XenDesktop® product line that adds major
enhancements in personalization, user experience and rich consumer
device support. The new XenDesktop 5.5 adds the “Personal vDisk”
technology acquired earlier this month from RingCube (see the
announcement) to all editions of XenDesktop, making it far easier
for customers to deploy highly personalized virtual desktops at a
substantially lower cost. XenDesktop 5.5 also features the most
significant enhancement in company history to its market-leading
Citrix HDX™ user experience technology, enabling customers to
deliver high-definition virtual desktops up to three times faster
for both LAN and WAN users. Using XenDesktop 5.5, customers can now
build true “private desktop clouds” for the first time ever,
delivering virtual desktops and apps with rich voice, video and
multimedia support to more than one billion end user devices, even
for the most challenging remote, branch and mobile users. (See
announcement blog)
As the industry moves from the PC Era to the Cloud Era, virtual
desktops are growing rapidly in popularity. IT organizations like
the security, flexibility and cost-savings of delivering desktops
as a centralized service, while end users like the ability to
access corporate apps and desktops from any device, in any
location. Addressing these market needs is one of the reasons
Citrix was recently recognized as the only vendor in the Leaders
category of the IDC MarketScape: Desktop Virtualization 2011 Vendor
Analysis1.
Gartner expects mainstream adoption of hosted virtual desktops
(HVDs) to take place in 2012 through 2014, with 70 million users by
20142. Driving broad mainstream adoption of desktop virtualization
at this scale will require continued enhancements in
personalization and user experience, along with continued reduction
in deployment and operation costs. XenDesktop 5.5 raises the bar in
all of these areas:
What’s New
- Virtual Desktops Made Personal -
XenDesktop 5.5 gives IT the ability to deliver personal VDI
desktops through the innovative “Personal vDisk” technology
acquired recently from RingCube. This technology is now available
at no charge as an early access capability in all editions of
XenDesktop 5.5, making it easy for customers to gain hands-on
experience and begin pilot deployments. This new feature will
enable broader enterprise-wide deployment of virtual desktops by
storing a single copy of Windows centrally, and combining it with a
personal vDisk for each employee’s personal apps, data and
settings, enhancing user personalization and reducing storage
costs. (See blog for additional details)
- Raising the Bar on High-Definition
User Experience - With more than 150 new features, XenDesktop
5.5 represents the most significant enhancement ever to Citrix HDX
user experience technology. Central to the release is the ability
to deliver virtual desktops over the WAN to mobile workers and
branch office employees up to three times faster, at a fraction of
the cost. Key enhancements include six times faster printing and
scanning, two times faster app launch, and flexible new Quality of
Service controls to ensure superior user experience in all network
conditions. The new release also features significant multimedia,
voice and video enhancements, including new Flash redirection
technology that delivers stunning video and audio experience over
the WAN at less than half the cost. (See blog for additional
details)
- Support for More than One Billion
Devices – Combined with the Citrix Receiver™ universal software
client, XenDesktop 5.5 extends the company’s already significant
lead in delivering apps and desktops to the widest possible range
of end user devices. Using XenDesktop 5.5, customers can deliver
self-service apps and desktops to more than one billion devices,
including PCs, Macs, tablets, smartphones and thin clients – and
all major device operating platforms, including new environments
like Apple iOS, Google Android and Google ChromeOS. (See blog for
additional details)
- Unparalleled Native User Experience
on Tablets and Smartphones – Unlike competing products that
offer only basic support for non-PC devices, XenDesktop 5.5 enables
a rich, native experience on each unique device, including support
for gestures and multi-touch features. This experience is also
customized based on the type of device. Smartphone users, for
example, tend to be document-centric. Instead of opening a full
Windows desktop, they generally prefer to interact with individual
files. Tablet users, by contrast, tend to be app-centric,
preferring to launch individual applications, rather than
navigating a full Windows desktop. In all cases, XenDesktop 5.5
enables a rich, native experience on each unique device, allowing
users to access corporate apps and data in whatever way is most
convenient and natural. No other desktop virtualization product in
the industry comes close.
- Millions More Laptops Supported with
XenClient 2 – XenDesktop 5.5 also includes Citrix XenClient™ 2
as a standard feature (see XenClient tech preview announcement).
XenClient extends the value of XenDesktop to millions of laptop
users, enabling customers to manage desktops centrally, but execute
them locally on client hypervisors rather than run directly on each
laptop – even when disconnected from the network. The XenClient 2
technology includes a host of new enhancements that significantly
expand hardware compatibility, deliver a simple user experience and
enable larger more complex production deployments. (See blog for
additional details)
- Faster App Delivery with XenApp
6.5 - XenDesktop 5.5 includes the new Citrix XenApp™ 6.5 as an
integrated feature. XenApp 6.5 delivers applications with the same
high-definition experience as desktops delivered via XenDesktop. In
addition, end-users benefit from the new Instant App Access feature
that reduces application launch times by 50 percent. Customers can
also manage applications delivered by XenApp alongside virtual
desktops from within the XenDesktop Desktop Director console. (See
blog for additional details)
- Enhanced Support for Microsoft
Technologies –XenDesktop 5.5 includes support for Microsoft
RemoteFX, a key capability of Microsoft Hyper-V. XenDesktop with
HDX and RemoteFX delivers a great user experience for rich content,
including Aero-based Windows 7 desktops, whether executing on the
server or the client device. Support for Microsoft management
technologies, such as App-V and System Center enables IT to
virtualize applications and manage their desktop infrastructure,
including physical and virtual desktops and applications, from a
single view.
Quotes
Bob Schultz, Group Vice President and General Manager,
Enterprise Desktops and Applications at Citrix
“With this new release of XenDesktop, we are making virtual
desktops simple and affordable for IT by incorporating technology
from our recent RingCube acquisition. In addition, XenDesktop 5.5
brings unprecedented levels of technology innovation with HDX so
users will have high-performance, personal desktops and
applications on any device, whether they are working at home, at
work or at a branch office. Bringing together on-demand apps with
XenApp, support for billions of devices with Citrix Receiver,
XenDesktop enables enterprises to transform their distributed
desktop computing into an on-demand service delivered from their
own private clouds.”
Mark Bowker, Senior Analyst, Enterprise Strategy
Group
“Desktop virtualization will play a key role in centralized IT
strategies and bringing remote and branch office employees on board
as part of this strategy is critical. The unique challenges of this
group of employees really underscore the need for optimized and
accelerated delivery over the WAN. Citrix has been dealing with the
central issues around WAN delivery for 20 years and it has
leveraged this experience and intelligence in XenDesktop 5.5 to not
only optimize virtual desktop delivery over the WAN but ensure that
users in remote and branch offices are receiving the best user
experience regardless of their location.”
Availability
XenDesktop 5.5, XenApp 6.5 and XenClient 2 are available for
download today from the Citrix website. Suggested pricing for
XenDesktop starts at $95 per user or device for the VDI-only
edition. Comprehensive desktop and application virtualization is
available in the Enterprise or Platinum editions, priced at $225
and $350. XenClient 2 is available standalone as a free download
from the Citrix website and included along with the Synchronizer
for XenClient with XenDesktop Enterprise and Platinum.
Supporting Partner Blogs
- AppDNA: Citrix XenDesktop 5.5 Advances
Further, Bringing the Reality of Anytime, Anywhere, Any device
Access to Organizations
- AppSense: User Virtualization and
Layers - Better Together
- Dell: The Release of Citrix XenDesktop
5.5 Means Great Things for our Customers
- Intel: Intelligent Clients and
XenDesktop 5.5 Improve User Experience and IT Control
- RES Software: Passing the Torch to a
New Generation
- Wyse: Wyse is Ready for Citrix
XenDesktop 5.5. Are you?
Related Links
- Expert blog: XenDesktop 5.5 is
Here
- Expert blog: XenDesktop 5.5 –
Optimizing for the Private Cloud
- Expert blog: XenClient 2 Released; Find
Out What’s New
- Expert blog: HDX is Even Better in
XenDesktop 5.5
- Expert blog: New XenApp 6.5 Available
Now
- Expert blog: Personal vDisks
- Announcement: Citrix Extends Desktop
Virtualization Leadership with Acquisition of RingCube
Follow Us Online
- Citrix XenDesktop product page
- Twitter: @Citrix, @xendesktop
About Citrix
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) is a leading provider of
virtual computing solutions that help people work and play from
anywhere on any device. More than 230,000 enterprises rely on
Citrix to create better ways for people, IT and business to work
through virtual meetings, desktops and datacenters. Citrix
virtualization, networking and cloud solutions deliver over 100
million corporate desktops and touch 75 percent of Internet users
each day. Citrix partners with over 10,000 companies in 100
countries. Annual revenue in 2010 was $1.87 billion.
For Citrix Investors
This release contains forward-looking statements which are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and of Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this
release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Those
statements involve a number of factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially, including risks associated with the
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as well as other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the
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update any forward-looking information contained in this press
release or with respect to the announcements described herein.
The development, release and timing of any features or
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The information provided is for informational purposes only and is
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Citrix®, XenDesktop®, Citrix Receiver™, HDX™, XenClient™ and
XenApp™ are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more
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1 IDC MarketScape: Desktop Virtualization 2011 Vendor Analysis
(Doc #228619), June 2011
2 Source: Garter, Forecast: Hosted Virtual Desktops, Worldwide,
2010-2014 (2010 Update)
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