Voting is now closed on the XenDesktop Video Tips Contest. Here are the final vote talliesfor the best desktop virtualization video tip -

The Winner of the 16 GB Apple iPod Touch is "20 Desktops Delivered in 20 Minutes" -

The winner of the 8 GB Apple iPod Touch is "VDI Made as Easy as Pie" -

The winner of the Apple iPod Nano is "XenDesktop User Experience" -

Congratulations to the winners. All of the other finalists will receive an Apple iPod Shuffle 2 GB. If you are a winner and are attending Citrix Synergy, please let me know. I would like to recognize any winners at the Geek Speak BarCamp event on Wednesday evening.

I ask each of the winners to send me your address and contact info to citrixblogger
@citrix.com.

Thanks again for participating and voting in the XenDesktop Video Tips contest.

There is one day left to get your vote in for the XenDesktop Video Tips Contest here. As of this posting, there have been almost 300 votes. The video tip "VDI Made as EASY as Pie" by Gareth Jameshas expanded its lead a bit over the "XenDesktop User Experience" video.

VDI Made as Easy as Pie

XenDesktop User Experience Comparison

The "XenDesktop with SC VMM and Hyper V" video is in third place.

XenDesktop with SC VMM and Hyper V

Check out these great desktop virtualization videos and cast your vote now.

The creators of the top three video tips as voted by you will receive prizes including an Apple iPod Touch 16 G, an Apple iPod Touch 8 GB, and a Apple iPod Nano.

You still have time to get your vote in for the XenDesktop Video Tips Contest here. As of this posting, there have been almost 200 votes. Currently "VDI Made as EASY as Pie" by Gareth James maintains a slight lead.

The creators of the top three video tips as voted by you will receive prizes including an Apple iPod Touch 16 G, an Apple iPod Touch 8 GB, and a Apple iPod Nano.

It is time to start taking votes for the best XenDesktop Video Tip. The creators of the top three video tips will receive prizes including an Apple iPod Touch 16 G, an Apple iPod Touch 8 GB, and a Apple iPod Nano.

Here are the XenDesktop Video Tips -

XenDesktop User Experience Comparison

VDI Made as Easy as Pie

XenDesktop User Personalization with AppSense

20 Desktops Delivered in 2 Minutes

XenDesktop with SC VMM and Hyper V

XenDesktop from Germany

Voting Now Closed

Voting will remain open until next Friday, May 16th.

I have not checked UTipU.com in a while for XenDesktop Tips. A couple of the recent tips from YouTube have been cross posted to UTipU.com in higher resolution versions.

XenDesktop with SC VMM and Hyper V 

 XenDesktop personalization with AppSense

See this live and in person in the XenDesktop technical sessions and live demos at Citrix Synergy. You can click here to register for Citrix Synergy.

You still have until this Friday by midnight to get in your video tech tip for the first leg of the XenDesktop Beta Video Tips Contest.
You have to place in the top 10 of one of the four bi-weekly votes to be entered to win the top prize - a 16 GB iPod Touch.

Your video could be as short as a minute or two, so it will not take you long to get it done. Follow this link to get the contest rules.

The first entry in the Citrix XenDesktop Video Tip contest has been cross posted to both UTipu.com and YouTube.

-

-

The poster added several notes to explain each step of the video. Unfortunately, notes do not display for embedded videos from UTip.com, so go to this link to watch it with the notes that explain each step.

Here is the YouTube version -

-

-

As you can see, UTipU has a higher screen resolution so you can certainly see more on the UTipU version.

The race for the 16 GB iPod Touch is on now! You can post as many videos as you like, and there are no limits on eligibility. I look forward to seeing more great videos like this one.

XenDesktop Beta Video Tips Contest

Are you taking the plunge into the XenDesktop Beta? Record your experiences as video tips for the Citrix Community and you could win an iPod Touch.

Announcing the XenDesktop Beta Video Tips Contest

The XenDesktop beta has been an an extremely popular download on MyCitrix.com (currently #1 in most popular downloads). Many people are pulling down the code and getting it installed in their labs. A few videos of user experiecnes have already appeared on YouTube.

Here is one video I just came across on YouTube  -

Citrix XenDesktop Performance Comparison

We would like to see even more videos, so we are creating a XenDesktop Video Tip Contest. Record a technical tip of XenDesktop and you could win an iPod Touch!

How to Win

Every other week, we will post what we judge to be the Top 10 videos posted for the past two weeks. We will take a vote on the best videos here on the blog until Wednesday of the following week. The top two video creators as voted by the blog readers will receive an iPod Shuffle. There will be four bi-weekly reviews and EIGHT bi-weekly winners.

You can post videos up until May 9th. Starting on May 15th, we will be taking votes here on the Official Citrix Blog on the eight winners from the bi-weekly voting.  The Top video winner receives a 16 Gb iPod Touch, second place receives an 8 Gb iPod Touch, and Third Place receives a 4 GB iPod Nano.

Contest Setup

Create a screen recording video of one of the following -

- XenDesktop Components Install

- Desktop Setup and Configuration

- Provisioning Server Configuration and Administration

- XenServer Configuration and Administration

- Application Delivery to Virtual Desktops - (Published apps on XenApp, application streaming, etc...)

- Performance Testing and Load Simulation  

- User Experience

- Third Party Integrations (Profile solutions, Microsoft Application Virtualization, Altiris SVS, etc...)

The XenDesktop Beta Getting Started Guide is full of different processes that need to be completed to install and configure XenDesktop. You could record one of these processes and add in some audio narration and notes that detail the steps and your thoughts on the process.

Videos that include notes (also called call outs) and/or narration are preferred and will have a better chance of winning.

Tools

In order to make these videos tips viewable here on the Citrix blog, we are requiring the videos be posted at either UTipU.com or YouTube.com

About UTipU.com

UTipU.com is a website that provides a free Tool (TipCam) that you can download and use to record your screen. TipCam gives you the ability to Zoom, Annotate (draw), or add a voiceover ( or redo a voiceover without redoing the video). You can then upload the video to the UTipU.com website.

Here are a few Tip videos on how to use UTipU.com

Intro to UTipU
http://utipu.com/app/tip/id/405/

How to Install TipCam
http://utipu.com/app/tip/id/1250/

How to Record Using TipCam
http://utipu.com/app/tip/id/1251/

How to add Notes to Your Videos
http://utipu.com/app/tip/id/1274/

How to Use Zooming in TipCam
http://utipu.com/app/tip/id/329/

Here is a very brief sample video of the Setup Tool for Citrix XenDesktop that I quickly put together as an example.

-

-

If you choose to use an existing tool you already have (Camtasia or ScreenCast from TechSmith for example) you can upload the video to YouTube. Click below for help on Uploading videos to YouTube -

http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/topic.py?topic=10524

Tags

For both YouTube and UTipU, please use these tags -
Citrix XenDesktop Video Contest VDI

Please add a tag for the type of video (Install, Desktop Setup, Provisioning Server, XenServer, App Delivery, Performance, User Experience, Third Party).

A few times a week we will highlight new videos that are posted by linking to them from the Official Citrix blog.

We are looking forward to seeing your tips and examples of the creativity, expertise and innovation that is out there in the Citrix Community.

Good luck!