Code Name for XenApp for Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Delaware Release Preview has been released to web. Download the bits, documentation and the license file to kick off your evaluation of XenApp on Windows Server 2008. This will help with your Windows Server 2008 migration plans when we release the final build. Nearly 2000 customers and partners have registered for it and have been anxiously waiting.
Since this is Beta code, you might find some issues and hence please make sure you at least scan the Installation checklist and Readme. The easiest way to install the Release Preview is to follow the Quick Start guide. It is a step by step guide (with screen shots) to complete the installation. You will need a new/upgraded license server (version 11.5) and a new license file to evaluate this release. There is a support forum to discuss all issues related to this Release Preview.
Some functionality like Application Performance Monitoring enhancements (powered by EdgeSight), an updated IM, an updated Resource Manager etc is missing from this beta and should be available in the final release. Try the Release Preview and leave us your comments.
In this interview, Willie Wright, one of the original developers of XenApp's CPU Management Technology, talks to Prasanna Padmanabhan about the history of MalooCPU, Delaware improvements as part of Preferential Load Balancing and some longer term research in the area of general resource management.
Some you may have listened to this one, but our podcasts don't support comments yet. So I thought I'd put it in here as a blog post, so that we now have a way to hear back from you.
After sponsoring more than a dozen Microsoft launch events around the world, I have reached out to the virtual Citrix event team to get an understanding of the top ten questions we are hearing with respect to Citrix XenApp. While we all know that history tends to repeat itself, I was still surprised that the same questions we heard back when Microsoft launched Windows Server 2000 and 2003 came up again. The top 10 boil down to really only 2 key questions:
Question 1: Does Citrix and Microsoft compete in the virtualization space?
I would like to shed some light here. Citrix and Microsoft have shared a strategic partnership for more than 18 years and have worked closely together to innovate on the Windows platform. As recent as January, we announced an expanded relationship within the adjacent desktop and server virtualization markets. Through the alliance, Citrix and Microsoft will work together to ensure interoperability and cross compatibility with the Windows platform for server, application and desktop virtualization solutions. Furthermore, we are tightly integrated around the development of our upcoming release of XenApp on the Windows Server 2008 platform. There is no better evidence of this than our joint go-to-market plans that we are effecting. For example, we have been delivering joint presentations to our customers and the market as part of the Microsoft 2008 launch wave, and sponsored conferences and tours. And, for those of you who have not had a chance to attend one of the Microsoft events, take a look at the video clip that was shown at the Microsoft keynote and on their virtual launch site. It specifically highlights the tight integration between our two companies.
Question 2: What value does XenApp bring relative to the standalone offering of Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services
Similar to the past, Citrix will continue to build upon the strength of the Windows Server platform to provide customers an end-to-end application virtualization solution. Our solutions complement one another in that we will leverage the enhancements Microsoft has made in Windows Server 2008 around platform stability, security and scalability and extend the platform to introduce some enhancements to our core XenApp functionality. With the interest of not repeating what has already been written, take a look at Bryon Thomas's post, Citrix XenApp on Microsoft Windows Terminal Services - A Feature Analysis, which provided an introduction to a more technical analysis at the feature level that helps get at the heart of how Citrix embraces and extends the Windows Server 2008 platform. It is being revised based on some feedback we received to his post but a new version is due out soon so stay tuned.
We want to know what is burning on your mind. So if these are not the same questions you have, just leave us a comment. Inquiring minds want to know.
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With the launch of Windows Server 2008 this past Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008, the question "Do I need Citrix or is Terminal Services enough" is back en vogue. In fact, the Google search for "do i need citrix with windows server 2008" is one of the top 3 search phrases driving traffic to my blog. In that search, my earlier post Evaluating Project Delaware and Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 is the 6th-ranked result. Brian Madden's classic post, Do you need Citrix or is Terminal Server enough?, with 22,000+ views, is the top result. Clearly, people are interested in this topic. Today, Citrix took the next step to help customers understand the differences and released this new white paper:
Citrix XenApp on Microsoft Windows Terminal Services - A Feature Analysis
Compare the base-level features of Terminal Services within Microsoft® Windows Server® 2003 and Windows Server 2008 to the features of Citrix XenApp™ (the new name for Citrix Presentation Server) running on Windows Server 2003.
Take a read and let us know what you think. I expect this doc will be updated once Project Delaware is released.
UPDATE: The Feature Analysis on Windows Server 2008 has temporarily been removed as we make additional edits based on feedback (thanks!). The previous version is available here. Once the updates are completed, I will re-post the new version on this blog. I apologize for the inconvenience and understand the frustration this may cause.
Update 2: The new 14-page Citrix Presentation Server on Windows Terminal Services: A Feature Analysis is now available. Read more here.
There is a tremendous amount of energy and buzz circulating here at the Microsoft launch event in LA with more than 7,000 registered attendees. The keynote kicked off with Tom Brokaw who gave a profound speech on the power of technology and how it is the will of people to use technology for the greater good. This set the stage for the "heroes happen here" theme of the conference. Microsoft unveiled the concept of dynamic IT - a scenario where IT can manage complexity and achieve agility, protect information and control access, advance business with IT solutions and amplify the impact of people. Demos surrounding the three new products - Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 - were shown along with a variety of customer vignettes to underscore the heroes theme and the importance of using technology to have an impact on society.
Post keynote, the partner pavilion opened and has been swamped with people. Citrix is a platinum sponsor so we have premier real estate however people have been lined up to get their name in the raffle and ask questions about our end-to-end virtualization story. Nothing is better than a demo, so we have been walking attendees through a live beta of XenApp (the new name for Presentation Server) on Windows Server 2008.
Even with only a few hours left in the day, the lines are growing and the conference is in high gear. I can't wait to see what others are saying about their experience here....
If you haven't already seen this, Thomas Koetzing (one of our CTPs) has reviewed the new WI 5.0 that will be shipped with Delaware. This review is from a private build we sent to the CTPs. Check the review here. For all the others who want to get the new WI, we will have a Delaware release preview in the near future.
Before I get into Delaware details, let me give you the inside scoop on the project name. For those who haven't figured it out by now, all our XenApp releases are named after rivers. Project Delaware will be the first major release to support Windows Server 2008 and we have been working on this release for almost 2 years. It has been a great journey and we know its importance. It resembles the journey that George Washington took to cross Delaware river in 1776 as part of the American Revolution. And that's why we named it project Delaware. There you go, a useless fun fact about project Delaware.
When we talk about Delaware, we mention how we are embracing and extending the Windows Server 2008 TS platform. Our first goal was to take all the great functionality we have on XenApp and move it to Windows Server 2008. And we are leveraging the new TS re-architecture (where TS has been split into Local Session Manager and Remote Connection Manager to provide better stability and reduce the security threat surface) and security enhancements like UAC and service specific SIDs. We will also be supporting XPS printing protocol, ClearType font smoothing (great for applications like Office 2007), Special Folder Redirection (when user's click on "My Documents" or "Desktop" in a published application, they can be redirected to their local device folders - pretty cool) and IPv6 support through Secure Gateway.
When it comes to extending the platform, we will have a brand new Web Interface with lots of end user usability enhancements, key application streaming enhancements, EdgeSight 5.0 and Preferential Load Balancing. In the coming months, I will go through the details of each one of these features. Except for Preferential Load Balancing and Special Folder redirection, other features should be available for Windows Server 2003 customers as well. Btw, if you haven't registered, please register to receive notifications and updates when we have our Delaware Early Release.
There's a lot of excitement around project Delaware, the first "XenApp" release for the new Windows Server 2008 platform. In this video, I talk about Preferential Load Balancing or PLB, a new feature in Delaware, that brings improvements to CPU Management and Load Balancing.
Citrix is heads-down working on the launch of Project Delaware, the next version of Presentation Server. And Microsoft is finalizing launch details for its Heroes Happen Here launch events for Windows Server 2008 (along with Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008), which begins on February 27, 2008 in Los Angeles. At this event, you will see the new Terminal Services features first-hand, but don't wait until then to get a sneak-peek of some of those features.
With the upcoming release of these new products from Microsoft and Citrix, organizations are asking themselves with increasing frequency questions like:
- Will I still need Presentation Server?
- Will Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 meet my needs?
- Why should I pay more for Presentation Server as compared to Terminal Services?
These questions are nothing new to the Terminal Services teams at Microsoft and the Presentation Server teams at Citrix. In fact, in my nearly 6 years at Citrix, these same questions are asked continually, and more frequently as we near product launches. But the truth is, new releases of Presentation Server are **always** complementary to new releases of Terminal Services. Maybe that's why Microsoft named Citrix Global ISV of the year in 2003 and again in 2005.
If you are considering Terminal Services and Presentation Server, are all of your questions answered in these items?:
- Value-add to Terminal Services
- Citrix Value-Add to Windows Terminal Services White Paper
- Performance Evaluation of Presentation Server 4.5 and Windows Terminal Services White Paper
Will an update to these docs answer your questions? Or would you like to see something new? What questions do you need answered when considering these products?
Leave a comment and let us know.
Project Delaware is the code name for the next major release of Presentation Server for Windows Server 2008. This blog is dedicated to all things Delaware. If you want to subscribe to this, add this RSS feed. If you are already subscribing to Presentation Server feeds, you will get these blog postings. Stay tuned...
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