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

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) announcement of the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) offering has just made Cloud Computing more attractive to the enterprise. Most companies I talk with are interested in the "Cloud", but beyond a few SaaS apps and perhaps some dev/test they are not ready for any big change to their corporate IT infrastructure. On the other hand many of those same companies are currently or projected to be capacity limited in their own data center based on space or power limitations.
Many companies will opt to move or expand into a Co-lo (Co-location) facility which provides dedicated space, power and bandwidth. This solves the space and power problem but most of the same costs of computing are just moved to a remote facility. The expensive data center facility cost is shared among other companies but the Server, Storage and Networking are all dedicated. The promise of the Cloud and particularly IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) like Amazon EC2 is sharing computing and facility costs, having capacity available on demand, and only paying for what is used.

The obstacles to IaaS offerings that I hear most often include security concerns and the desire keep the corporate data and or legacy infrastructure in place. Making a massive move from premise to Cloud is not desired or warranted.  On the other hand enabling a Premise Plus Cloud solution in a secure fashion and using it only for expansion or overflow capacity could be appealing for many companies. Essentially this is what Amazon is offering with VPC, a dedicated secure network extending from a company data center into the Amazon Cloud with isolated VM's available on demand.  
For Citrix Customers this could be particularly attractive for expanding XenApp farms or centralizing new applications on XenApp without the prerequisite facility and capital costs. Customers can bring their own XenApp licensees to VPC or point back to existing license server on premise. We have been collaborating with Amazon AWS to build and test XenApp servers in VPC to validate and number of scenarios and use cases. In addition we have made dedicated Amazon Machine Image ( AMI ) templates available with XenApp 5 preinstalled and ready to launch.  Citrix C3 Blueprints are also now available to assist companies that want to start to evaluate the new offering. ( Note: the service is currently in Beta )

For Citrix this announcement represents another progressive move as a leader and enabler of Cloud Computing. Amazon EC2 based on the Xen Hypervisor has already made EC2 ubiquitous with start-ups and the undisputed leader in Public Clouds, VPC with XenApp now represents a significant opportunity for Enterprise IT. The Citrix Cloud Center ( C3 ) portfolio will continue to enable IT and Cloud providers to exploit the promise of the Cloud, stay tuned..

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In case you have ever needed to administer a XenApp server but were not near a PC, this app is for you. In the past this typically meant a drive to work or home, then boot-up the PC launch the AMC, you know the gig. Now there is a better way, if you haven't found it already there is a free Mobile Console app from Extentrix that allows an Admin to see who's logged on, log them off, reset the session, or send a message. All without leaving your chair or even booting a PC. The app UI is designed to work with the iPhone, but because it's actually a Windows app running on XenApp you can also access it from any device that has a Citrix Receiver ( or ICA Client ). You can download it free here .

Aside from solving your problem to administer XenApp servers, think about what other apps that could be built or modified to fit a mobile form factor and delivered to your users with the same infrastructure you already have. For more ideas check out the XenApp CDN pages for tips on building custom mobile apps for XenApp. What mobile app do your users need ?

I moved to California from London just over 11 months ago. Obviously there is a significant cultural and climatic shift involved and a settling in period is a necessity to find your feet. Having travelled all over the world I have embraced as many aspects of different cultures and enjoyed experimenting.

One such aspect I have noticed here in California and in fact right throughout the US is the love of cheese.  A meal  smothered in cheese is normally accompanied by a side dish of, guess what, MORE cheese. Normally I reserve this dairy delight for a cracker or with some wine but 'Here' it is on everything.

Ordering a Cheeseburger with no cheese always raises a quizzical look from the waitress and a thought process which starts with "You are weird" and progresses to "Is he a serial killer?". Even the lactose intolerant demand that their lunch, dinners and daily snacks have heavy cheese content. Asking colleagues, "why do they have so much cheese on their food?" the simple answer was, "it tastes so good with cheese".

One technically gifted colleague decided to explain this using the analogy that Citrix XenApp and Microsoft Remote Desktop Services(the technology formerly known as Terminal Services) have the same relationship as cheese and hot meals(zzzz). The hot meal is the platform, Microsoft, and the cheese is the value-add, XenApp, which brings the  meal to life. Beating this analogy to a quick death, then Citrix has a number of cheeses, Citrix XenDesktop, Essentials for Hyper-V and Branch Repeater which embrace and extend the Microsoft Platform to supply a sumptuous meal.

All of these great combos can be found here at the New Microsoft/Citrix Community Portal where 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 you can tell us if our cheese is good or if it stinks - let me remind you that all the best cheeses stink  

PS Does eating cheese in the evening give you nightmares? 

Have you ever needed to demo Citrix XenApp to a colleague or customer ? Or perhaps just needed a reference connection to validate a client is working properly ? You may have also have wanted to check out Citrix Dazzle based on a demo account vs your production environment.
Now you can easily check out a live demo XenApp system hosted in the Cloud. You only need to enter your email to get your own credentials to check out a variety of apps that run as expected. ( not canned Flash demos ) . You can also simply send someone the link for them to get their own credentials, as well including links to client downloads if required. The current system will provide access from PC's Mac's, WinMo and iPhone's ( any where, any device ).

Give it a try and spread the link @ http://CitrixCloud.net

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The Citrix C3 Lab with Amazon AWS now hosts XenApp Fundamentals on Windows 2003 Server with no installation required. The C3 Blueprint describes how to set up the environment so you can be testing or demoing apps delivered from the Cloud in minutes. XenApp Fundamentals is the new name for Access Essentials which is an ideal solution for SMB's looking for a simple way to administer and deliver Windows apps to office PC's , Thin Clients, Desktop Appliances, home PC's, Mac's, Laptops or mobile devices. Only a Receiver client is required on the endpoint, the applications get installed on a single XenApp server and are simply published to the users you want to access the app. The Admin console is wizard driven and easy to use, with the option for advanced features only if required.
Putting XenApp Fundamentals in EC2 makes everything even easier, no servers to buy or configure, the image is pre-built and ready to run. The Amazon plus Windows cost is only 12.5 cents per hour while you are using it. Even if you leave it on 24 hours a day all month that only $93 /mo ( plus storage and bandwidth, which is nominal for testing ). We have also included 2 User XenApp evaluation Licenses, so there are no other downloads or registrations required. Once you set up an Amazon account and start the server you only need to install your own apps in the image and click to publish to any user with any device.

This video walks you through every step to get started in 15 minutes.

( thanks to Simon Waterhouse for building the image )

Let us know of any questions or idea's on your use case in the comments below.

http://twitter.com/chrisfleck