Hong Kong – 8 September 2011 – Citrix Systems has launched a new version of its market-leading Citrix XenDesktop® product line that adds major enhancements in personalisation, 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 personalised 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 organisations like the security, flexibility and cost-savings of delivering desktops as a centralised service, while end users like the ability to access corporate apps and desktops anytime, anywhere, from any device.

Addressing these market needs is one of the reasons Citrix was recently recognised as the only vendor in the Leaders category of the IDC MarketScape: Desktop Virtualization 2011 Vendor Analysis[1]. Gartner expects mainstream adoption of hosted virtual desktops (HVDs) to take place in 2012 through 2014, with 70 million users by 2014[2]. Driving broad mainstream adoption of desktop virtualisation on this scale will require continued enhancements in personalisation and user experience, along with continued reductions in deployment and operation costs. XenDesktop 5.5 raises the bar in all of these areas.

What's new

·          Unparalleled native user experience on tablets and smart phones – 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 customised according to the type of device. Smart phone 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.

·          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, enabling 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. (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 a 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)

·            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. (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 per cent. (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.

Quotes

Bob Schultz, Group Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Desktops and Applications, Citrix

"This new release of XenDesktop makes virtual desktops simple and affordable by incorporating technology from our recent RingCube acquisition. In addition, XenDesktop 5.5 brings unprecedented levels of 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 and 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 virtualisation will play a key role in centralised 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 underscore the need for optimised and accelerated delivery over the WAN. Citrix has been dealing with the central issues around WAN delivery for 20 years and has leveraged this experience and intelligence in XenDesktop 5.5 to not only optimise virtual desktop delivery 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. Comprehensive desktop and application virtualization is available in the Enterprise or Platinum editions. 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 datacentres.  Citrix virtualisation, 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.