I posted a high-level training video (webinar style) about the trial release of HDX MediaStream for Flash on Citrix TV (the Underground channel) a few weeks ago. Meant to blog about it sooner, but now you know!  

Derek

P.S. If you've had a chance to evaluate the trial release, please complete our brief survey.

Have you had a look at the trial release of HDX MediaStream for Flash yet? Early feedback has been very positive. Jason Langone of Infinite Group / Systems ArchiTECH.com wrote this of his experience with HDX MediaStream for Flash: "The first time I walked by a XenDesktop virtual instance playing a video on YouTube I had NO idea it was a virtual desktop. Yes, it's that good." Check it out! The benefits of HDX are clear.

Here are some of the comments we've received so far from folks evaluating HDX MediaStream for Flash:

• "It works great -- just like watching it on the desktop."
• "Very impressive!"
• "Wow, quality looks great!"
• "It works really well. I have compared performance with and without it, and it is pretty impressive."
  

So give it a try and let us know what you think!

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, HDX Multimedia Virtualization

[May 20: This post originally contained the video by Michel Buis that is referenced in Jason Langone's recent article as being "indicative" of the results he experienced with HDX MediaStream for Flash, but since Michel's video shows Windows Media Player rather than Flash, that created some confusion and I have removed it. I'll write a new post shortly with a video of HDX MediaStream for Flash playing YouTube content, which is the experience that Jason wrote about. Meanwhile, you can see this technology playing a high definition Flash video in my earlier blog post with David Stone.]

XenDesktop 3 Feature Pack 1 is now available for download, and with it, a Trial Release of HDX MediaStream for Flash. The trial release (downloadable here) also supports XenApp on Windows Server 2003 and 2008.

Try it out! Here are some cool websites that highlight the superior performance of this new technology:

• StarTrekMovie.com
• MarkeTrac.NYSE.com
• 007.com
• FreedomAndPartners.com
• Tokbox.com (video chat)
• IKEA.com 

Enjoy!

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, HDX Multimedia Virtualization

Remember the impressive demo that David Stone gave at Synergy in Houston showing how Citrix's RAVE technology is being adapted to improve the delivery of Adobe Flash content? Perhaps you caught the video on Synergy Underground. David showed a graphics-intensive 3D Flash animation of a shark and fish swimming in the ocean. It was far beyond the typical Flash animations found on corporate web pages yet the quality was "just like local". Since then, the Apollo Multimedia Virtualization team has continued to make excellent progress enhancing SpeedScreen Flash Acceleration with our RAVE technology. I met with Dave recently and we recorded this video to show how RAVE can deliver a high definition Flash movie complete with HD audio. The user experience is amazing and server CPU consumption is extremely low. Sorry, no dates have yet been announced for beta trials or general availability. But I think you'll be amazed at what the Apollo team has already achieved. RAVE (Remote Audio & Video Extension) is a strategic technology for Citrix and a key piece of our SmartRendering vision - the intelligent combination of server-side and client-side rendering based on factors such as the particulars of the application, the capabilities of the client and the server, and the characteristics of the network connection. RAVE is already used in XenApp's SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration feature, which is now being ported to XenDesktop, to deliver high quality video and audio from hosted media players based on DirectShow, DMO or Media Foundation technology. Many customers have been asking Citrix to enhance SpeedScreen Flash Acceleration with RAVE to improve the delivery of Flash-based eLearning applications and corporate communications videos. So take a look and let us know what you think. How will this technology help your organization? What are your most important "use cases" for delivering Flash content using XenApp or XenDesktop?

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

Sit back and listen in as I speak with Doug Brown, Citrix Technology Professional and Microsoft MVP, about the Citrix Multimedia Virtualization Initiative and the new technologies being developed by the project Apollo team in this DABCC Radio podcast...

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

Recently I published a video blog post about RAVE (Remote Audio & Video Extensions), the technology behind SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration. RAVE supports high quality playback of media streams that can be decoded by a media player that uses DirectShow or DirectX Media Objects (DMO). A question came in from the field asking how a customer can determine whether SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration is functioning. So here are some handy tips for verifying whether RAVE is working or not. In addition, you'll find a helpful troubleshooting article in our Knowledge Center.

The quick answer is that you can probably tell by the quality of the video playback since RAVE delivers a user experience on par with running the media player locally. But here are some other telltales. When RAVE is working, a black rectangle will quickly flash by as the video begins to play. Server CPU usage will be much lower than if the video were being rendered on the server (for comparison, you can disable SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration on the console and try playing the same video). Searching for "FilterInt" in ProcessExplorer will show that DLL loaded by the media player's process.

Are there any enhancements that you would like to see to make it easier to discover that an additional codec needs to be installed on the client (or even on the server to support server-side rendering as a fallback)? For example, one possible enhancement would be for SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration to record RAVE events in the Windows Event Log.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

In recent years, we've seen widespread adoption of video streaming in the enterprise. Typical uses include employee training and corporate communications. In this 10-minute video, Citrix engineer Aureliano Lopez-Martin demonstrates SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration and explains how Citrix's RAVE (Remote Audio & Video Extensions) technology delivers video streaming with excellent quality -- including High Definition -- and very high server scalability.

To set the stage, consider the two basic alternative approaches to delivering streaming media from a centralized application or desktop delivery system. You can either render the video centrally and send it in a standardized compressed format to the client, or you can decode the native compressed media stream on the client device using the appropriate codec. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages.

Recently, I posted a video of Vista Aero Remoting, a technology currently being developed under project Apollo. The Apollo Vista Aero Remoting technology takes a generic approach to delivering whatever appears on the user's virtual desktop. The beauty of that approach is that it delivers a "full fidelity" user experience for whatever the user needs to view on the screen, whether it is a Flash or Windows Media video, a next-generation Windows application written in WPF or Silverlight, or any other application technology.

The RAVE technology behind SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration is an optimization specifically for streaming video and audio. It leverages client-side resources to increase server scalability (the number of concurrent users) and thereby reduce the cost per user. Take a look at this video and you'll learn about the advantages and requirements of the RAVE approach and get a glimpse into the future of this innovative technology. 

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

(Click to hear Aureliano Lopez-Martin explain the RAVE technology behind SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration)