The launch of Windows 7 fills me with dread and excitement. The dread comes from coordinating Citrix Global Platinum sponsorship of this launch with North America Roadshows, Virtual Live Events, TechEd EMEA and local launch events. The excitement comes from the promise of Windows 7 after the relative disappointment of Vista (I must stress the word "relative"), as the performance of Windows 7 is definitely promising to live up to the hype.  

So, why would Microsoft invite Citrix to be a Global Launch Partner for an operating system launch?

Normally when you want a new OS, you just go on the web, buy a new PC, and use the CD to install the OS or, if you are like me and technologically incompetent, you get your IT Department to install it. However, the technology landscape has shifted. Now there is an alternative way to get your instant Windows 7 desktop with Citrix and Microsoft Desktop Virtualization, which delivers Windows desktops as an on-demand service to any user, on any device, anywhere.

The combination of Citrix and Microsoft gives customers the fastest way to deliver Windows 7 realizing benefits of increased efficiency and simplified IT Management. In addition Citrix HDX Technology offers up to 10X better Flash multimedia performance compared to alternative solutions, delivering a user experience that is indistinguishable from a local PC.

7 Ways to get up to speed on Citrix and Microsoft Desktop Virtualization for Windows 7

1. Check out the Citrix Desktop Virtualization Live, "Secrets, Lies and VDI" event on the 20^th October - register here

2. Attend the "Harness The Power of Virtualization" events with guest speakers from Citrix, Microsoft, Intel and HP - register here

3. Microsoft New Efficiency Virtual Live Event

4. North America Windows 7 Roadshows in 65 Cities for Technical Decision Makers and IT Professionals

5. Microsoft Tech EMEA

6. Check out your local events

7. Check out Win7 Community Central to see how the Citrix Partner Ecosystem helps deliver Windows 7 - Click here

Are you planning to attend Intel Developer Forum 2009 next week? If so, you will see Citrix in every corner of the event!

Stop by the Citrix booth (#501) next week at San Francisco's Moscone Center to see demos of our Citrix Delivery Center solutions. We will also showcase demos of Citrix XenClient, our joint collaboration with Intel to develop a local desktop virtualization platform.

In addition, Citrix will be featured in the Intel Virtualization Pavilion and Intel vPro Zone Communities. Within the Communities we'll showcase XenClient and also how Citrix XenServer leverages the benefits of Intel Xeon processors for Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop workloads. And as if that weren't enough, we will also have a demo of SR-IOV with Citrix XenServer at Intel's booth.

Citrix will also be featured within several breakout sessions at the event. Stop by the session "Hosted, Streamed, and Local Bare Metal Desktop Virtualization with Citrix XenDesktop and Citrix XenClient" on September 22^nd from 3-3:50pm to hear Peter Blum introduce our desktop virtualization vision and discuss Citrix XenClient.

Also, Simon Crosby is participating in a cloud virtualization panel discussion alongside other industry-leading companies. This session is scheduled for September 22^nd from 5-5:50pm.

In short...or maybe not that short...if you plan on attending the event, you'll have a lot of opportunities to meet with Citrix and learn how Citrix is working with Intel.

We look forward to seeing you there and we guarantee you won't be able to miss us! Learn more about Intel Developer Forum or register to attend here.

By now, you've probably been hearing or reading a lot about Citrix's relationship with Intel...or at least we're hoping that's the case!

Most of the recent news has been focused on our joint collaboration in the development of Citrix XenClient. XenClient is one of the most exciting projects in Citrix's history and we can't wait to see how the project changes the definition of desktop virtualization. With that said, there are optimization activities currently underway with our Citrix Deliver Center products, such as Citrix XenServer and Citrix XenDesktop that are worth talking about too!

Intel and Citrix have a long history of working together to deliver end-to-end solutions for the enterprise. From how Citrix XenServer works with Intel Xeon processors to how Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop work alongside Intel vPro technology to our joint development of Citrix XenClient, there is a great story in this partnership.

At Citrix Synergy 2009, Tom James, Business Development Manager, Digital Office Platform Division from Intel presented how solutions and technologies from Intel work with Citrix Delivery Center. For those of you who weren't able to attend Synergy or those who could but didn't have a chance to check out this session, it's available here for your viewing pleasure.

In this webinar you will learn:

• About recent server consolidation testing conducted in the Citrix Lab with Citrix XenApp, Citrix XenServer and Intel Xeon 5500 Series processors
• About the upcoming local desktop virtualization platform - XenClient - Citrix is developing in conjunction with Intel and how we see it changing the client landscape moving forward
• About the other collaboration areas from a technical perspective and how they add customer value
  

Check out the webinar!

Within this one page you'll have all information on the Citrix and Intel relationship available at your fingertips...or mouse click so to speak.  

Interested in learning about Citrix's latest activities with Intel? We know your time is valuable and that's why we've consolidated all related news, blogs, articles, videos, etc... into the feeds section of this page. We've also created an area that highlights all related forum threads and postings. Look for answers to your burning questions, participate in an existing discussion, or post a new thread. Epitomizing the true nature of community... this page is here for you!  

Did you know that Citrix and Intel are working together to jointly develop a bare-metal Type-1 client hypervisor? Learn about and stay up to date on our joint collaboration of Citrix XenClient. View demos, read blogs and let us know what you think about this upcoming solution.

But it doesn't stop there! Get information and results on our joint product validation, benchmarking and scalability tests. You can even let us know how you're working with Citrix and Intel solutions together in our Community Verified area.

You're only one click away from all things Citrix and Intel. Stop by the Citrix Community page for Intel and check back often! And don't forget to follow us on Twitter!

To finish off with another Damone line, "isn't this great?"

I'm sure you are all familiar with the iPhone commercials and the ubiquitous "there is an app for that" phrase that has seemingly become the catch phrase of this decade. Previous catch phrases include --but not limited to -- The 70s-"Heeeey" , The 80s-"Where's the Beef?" The 90s-"Doh!".

All kidding aside, "there's an app for it" reflects the current state of consumerization and customization that is becoming commonplace in today's on-line experience. It is no longer acceptable to have generic applications and content. We all know what we need/want for our apps and we need them now!

Citrix Community Updates

In that same spirit, today I have the pleasure of sharing some of the upgrades we have made to the Citrix community sites. Need a community for discussing Citrix and Microsoft products, "there's a community for that", need a community for the latest and greatest on Citrix and Oracle, "there's a community for that", need a community for finding cool communities "there's a community for that" , need a community where you can geek out (both online and local), "there are 2 communities for that" (gotta spice it up a bit , the first is here and the second is here)... well, I think you get the idea. You should check out the Citrix Community home page and in particular the new partner community module.

My team and I are continually looking for ways to connect with the Citrix community of customers, partners, Citrites and anyone interested in the latest in virtualization of applications, desktops and servers. We are continually soliciting feedback and update the site based on direct comments and industry trends.

Now it's your turn....

Let us know what types of communities you need and (you guessed it) "there will be a community for that", we are open to all types of ideas... here's a few to get the ball rolling (and maybe a peek at the future )... How about a Citrix and Windows 7 community? Or a Citrix and Desktop Virtualization community? Or (heaven forbid!) a Citrix and VMware community?

Also, let us know what type of content you are looking for in your communities. Check out the partner communities or even XenServerCentral for our real time multi-media feeds. Let us know how we can make them better for you...

Now I need to get back to my favorite iPhone App (an oldie but a goodie) ....

john

Microsoft, Intel & Citrix: Dynamics of Enterprise Virtualization

An interactive discussion led by Doug Brown

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attend this lively discussion with virtualization experts David Greschler, Iddo Kadim & Simon Crosby on the dynamics of enterprise virtualization. Register here.

With users scattered across the globe, the need to tighten IT management is ever-increasing.
Citrix XenDesktop working alongside Intel vPro-based devices provides IT centralized desktop management with complete control over the PC.

Citrix XenDesktop 3, deployed in conjunction with Intel® vPro™ technology, delivers an uncompromised IT centralized manageability and end user experience. This combination provides IT with simple, secure remote desktop management and hardware-based security, resulting in reduced TCO and providing end users with a full desktop PC experience. Together, Citrix and Intel provide a robust desktop and PC management solution.

Join us on May 20th for a XenDesktop Tech Talk session, featuring Intel. This webinar will provide a deep-dive introduction on how these solutions work together and the value they provide IT organizations.

Register Today!

Date: 5/20/2009
Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/211934248

HP just announced their next generation G6 ProLiant and BladeSystem servers powered by Intel Xeon 5500 (Nehalem) processors. My engineering friends suggested that the new Hyper Threading Technology in the 5500 processors is worth reading up on ... see the link in Pat Gelsinger's blog post for more on this front. Previously we talked about HP testing, and new performance characterization work just completed by HP indicates that a 2P HP BL460c G6 server equipped with the Intel Xeon X5570 can provide optimal support for up to 402 users when running HP's most aggressive test workload in a 64-bit HP Server Based Computing environment. The HP test results demonstrated that Hyper-Threading Technology was able to enhance performance by 41%, and that Nehalem provides a 2x performance improvement over the previous platform. Get all the details for yourself in the HP paper here. This BL460c G6 paper is the latest in HP's extensive library of performance characterization papers covering XenApp and XenServer with HP servers.

The HP G6 product release includes six new HP ProLiant servers certified with the new free Citrix XenServer. XenServer is certified on the: HP ProLiant BL490c G6, BL460c G6, DL380 G6, DL360 G6, ML370 G6, and the ML350 G6 models. This takes the total number of XenServer certified ProLiant models to 27!

Yup - HP now offers no less than 27 server platforms certified with XenServer!

A pivotal part of Project Independence is the technology at its core.  An obvious choice for Citrix, and many other virtualization companies, is to select the Xen open-source technology as the basis for a bare-metal hypervisor.  The wonderful thing about having Xen at the core of the hypervisor is that Citrix,  undeniably the experts in Xen, has teamed with Intel, undeniably the experts in hardware virtualization, to build the core client hypervisor.  This is the best recipe for success that I've ever seen.

The Intel and Citrix collaboration, known as Thunder Lake, is  a joint program intended to bring many proven server based virtualization technologies to Intel vPro client desktops and laptops.  At the heart of the Citrix client hypervisor is open source Xen with its architecture that is uniquely designed to ensure strong isolation between VMs running on a single device.  Several key Intel technologies like VTx, VTd, TXT, and TPM will be leveraged by the Xen hypervisor such that Citrix products and technologies can bring features previously found only on server based solutions to the client platform with full local execution.  For example, since Xen is the most up to date technology using Intel's VTd hardware, it is well suited to pass through device control directly to the client in a way that doesn't impact security.  Hypervisor features like Xen's support for VTd will solve some very tough problems for client virtualization.

A key requirement for a client hypervisor is a seamless user experience.  This is one of the main differences from a server-based hypervisor.  To accomplish this, hardware devices like Graphics and USB perform just like they do today but now on a platform running multiple VMs - all this without compromising security.  On the Xen client hypervisor you will get full 3D graphics, including Vista Aero, all the while maintaining full isolation between VM's.  This ensures that the corporate applications and desktops are safe from vulnerabilities that could copy your display and keystrokes.      

Today, Xen offers excellent isolation between VMs.  With our new client hypervisor, security will be enhanced even beyond today's standards.  By incorporating encryption and support for Intel's TXT technologies the Citrix client hypervisor will check and measure the boot process.  Now data and OS are safe even if client platform has been compromised by removing the disk.

The exciting thing for us at Citrix is that Project Independence along with the Intel joint collaboration project will bring leading edge hardware and software technologies together for the distinct purpose of providing a better end user experience and better security.  For years it seems an improvement in security meant a decrease in user experience or performance.  More than ever most of us are PC users and soon we will be able to own and control our Desktop and therefore be in control of our experience and productivity.

 Matt

I hope by now a lot of you know about the new "unconference" portion of Synergy 2008, Geek Speak Live.  Part of Geek Speak Live is the Geek Speak Lounge (GSL).  Basically is an area to meet at during the Live event and meet with other members of the Citrix community and discuss and share new ideas and topics.  It's also where you can see some demos with a twist, more on this later! 

First, here's the proposed GSL layout:
 
There are 4 main demo areas.  The twist is that the demos are intended to let you experience future Citrix technology  more interactively, possibly using some applications and devices that aren't what you'd usually see us demo.

So here's the rundown:

Cool Devices - This section of  the GSL features gadgets that can be today, or may be enabled tomorrow with the ICA client to become your XenApp or XenDesktop ICA end points.  Customers are using cell phones and PDAs today to do this, but we have some new devices that are starting to change the game and starting to reach Nirvana Device status as described in Chris Flecks post.  You'll get to try them out in the GSL, in exchange for you opinion and comments on how use of such devices can add value to your business, or not!  Hopefully this demo area makes you think about app and desktop delivery in some new ways.  For a quick preview of some of the devices that will be present, check out the Nirvana Devices Invade Synergy Geek Speak Lounge post.  (Note: we originally had a BarCamp session on this topic, but due to the great response we've gotten from others willing to present, we've removed this from BarCamp.  But you can still get the hands on experience and knowledge in the GSL on this subject).

Project Alice Demo - Haven't heard about project Alice, also referred to as Reverse seamless?  It fits in very nicely with our XenDesktop story and is a sneak peak at some new technology we are working on to allow the user to leverage local applications running on the end point device in the context of their XenDesktop seamlessly.  Image having those favorite apps you have on your laptop seamlessly showing up as part of your Corporate XenDesktop environment with out needing to switch between the local desktop and XenDesktop. 

Project Apollo Games - You've probably seen some of the blogs on project Apollo.  Apollo does a great job of enabling the new graphics intensive features of next generation applications in a Citrix environment (preview at Derek Thorslund's blog).  Well this is the GSL twisted version of those demos.  We're going to have 8 Dell XPS 710 gaming systems running an early version of Apollo, remoting an action game to Wyse Thin Clients.  You've seen the CAD demos, now it's your turn to actually sit down and give the power of project Apollo some hands on time, in true Geek Speak fashion.  While you probably won't be publishing games to your end user's any time soon, you should be able translate the power of this demo into how project Apollo can help you move to the next generation of graphic intensive applications in your Citrix deployment in the future.   We'll have some of the apps Derek has blogged on with Apollo as well, for those non-gamers like myself

Apollo Media Center - To further show off some of the new video capabilities the Apollo team is working on, we will also have an Alienware Area 51 system running Media Center in the GSL.  And you guessed it, the Alienware system will be "Apollo-ized" and remoting videos out to a large screen monitor via a Wyse thin client.  Again, maybe not what you'd do in production, but you should be able to translate this demo with a twist into better ideas on how to deliver some of those training videos and other multi-media out to your users in the future.

The GSL should be a great place for you to meet with other members of the Citrix Community, discuss new ideas and hopefully come up with some new ones!

Thanks to Intel for sponoring the event, and the list of other partners supporting the GSL effort:

Alienware, Dell, Wyse, Nokia, Sprint, Celio, i-Mate, Impatica, Icuiti

We look forwared to meeting you there!

Adam

Wanted to do a quick post on some of the cool gadgets we will be demoing in the Geek Speak Lounge at Synergy 2008 sponsored by Intel.  Alot of the devices are  the ones you may have seem me blog on earlier, and a few are potential candidates to add into the mix down the road.  Here's your chance to get hands on with some of these next generation access devices, and BYOG (Bring Your Own Gadget) that you think would make a good Nirvana Device candidate for use with Citrix:

 
If you look close you'll see 4 of these devices actively connected to a XenDesktop, and 2 of them remoting that desktop from the device out to a larger screen in true Nirvana Device fashion!
 
Devices shown starting in the front and moving counter clockwise:
 

• i-Mate 9502
• Impatica Showmate
• Nokia 810N
• HP iPAQ 210 - accessing a XenDesktop
• i-Mate 6150 (behind the iPAQ) - accessing a XenDesktop connected to the 22" Dell Monitor
• Celio Redfly Mobile Companion
• Sprint Treo 700wx (on the Redfly) - accessing a XenDesktop connected to the Redfly
• Nokia E90 - accessing a XenDesktop
• Nokia E61i

All of the devices shown currently work with XenApp and XenDesktop except for the Nokia 810N.  Intel will also be providing some prototype devices to show off as well. 

We'll also be following up to this post with a full rundown of all of the cool stuff that you can see and use in the GS Lounge early next week!

Look forward to seeing you and hearing your comments in the Geek Speak Lounge at Synergy 2008

PS: You might even have a chance to one of these cool devices home with you from the show to use with your own XenApp and soon XenDesktop environment!!!

Intel's "Cliffside" technology enables a single physical Wi-Fi adapter to function like two independent Wi-Fi adapters.

I don't know of any software out there, it may exist though, that allows a single Wi-Fi adapter to be able to connect to multiple wireless networks. The only exception to that would be is if the adapter had multiple radios in either the same or different bands.

The other really exciting thing I can see from "Cliffside" is what it can do for us with virtual machines.

Here is a real scenario that "Cliffside" could have helped solve:

A good friend of mine over at Siemens, Scott Hembroff, ran into a bit of a problem that involved the local host needing to be able to connect to the Siemens Wireless network, but yet also be able to connect a running virtual machine on to another Wireless network. This problem could have been solved with some really crafty voodoo magic, but the big hurdle had to do with the security of the other wireless network and how they locked down MAC addresses and Machine ID's. Basically to solve the problem we ended up using a USB Wireless adapter that we did not let the local host install, we only installed it on the guest. This allowed for the security measures in place on the other Wireless network to not be comprised, but yet allow us to have the physical host exist on two different Wireless networks.

If "Cliffside" had been around when we were tackling this problem, who knows, we might not have even thought twice about what to do. With that being said, it doesn't look like "Cliffside" in its current advertised feature set from Intel, could have solved the problem, as they are intending the second partition to only be used as a PAN. I get it, but why wouldn't you go all the way with the ability of true duality?

This is a good starting point, but if our computers are to be fully virtualized or are running more than one virtual machine, we are going to need to be able to connect to more than one wireless network, and the virtual machines are going to have to have be able to do that from one physical/virtual wireless adapter.