The attached PowerPoint presentation explains the following crash dump and GUI troubleshooting tools along with underlying concepts such as windows, messages, and message processing:

• TestDefaultDebugger* SystemDump* DumpCheck* PDBFinder* WindowHistory* CtxHideEx32* RepairCBDChain* MessageHistory* ADSCleaner* StressPrinters

Citrix Fast Launch is an application/extension that expedites the launching of applications virtualized with Citrix XenApp.
We will be releasing it soon as a freeware on the CDN site.

Stay tuned for more!
Gus Pinto

*Check out the latest video with the creators of Citrix Fast Launch!

This whitepaper discusses Desktop Virtualization and the impact on desktop management challenges.

1. The challenges for desktop management in a pre-Desktop Virtualization world.
2. How these challenges are addressed by Desktop Virtualization
3. Issues that are not well addressed by Desktop Virtualization
4. Our view of how to best address these remaining issues.

Download the whitepaper

Enjoy the reading!
Gus Pinto

I had a chat this Friday with Orestes who's the Director of Product Management for the XenApp product line, formerly known as Presentation Server.

We talked about the name change - clearing the smoke aroung it, a look down the road - project Delaware (XenApp 5.0 for Windows Server 2008), and the upcoming Synergy event.

Register for XenApp 5.0 Early preview: http://www.citrix.com/delaware/earlyrelease

Register for Synergy: http://community.citrix.com/synergy-registration

Have Fun!
Gus Pinto

If you are a Citrix administrator then you should definitely bookmark this link. Whenever I get stuck there is always a utility here which can help get out of my problem.

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX107572

My favorite tools are

Tool	Description
Repair Clipboard Chain 2.0.1	The RepairCBDChain utility temporarily restores clipboard functionality.Run the RepairCBDChain utility on your workstation and/or inside the session desktop
Project MedEvac 2.11	The MedEvac tool is utilized to run checks against a Presentation Server farm to verify environment health.  CTX108311
FarmAppUtil Tool	The FarmAppUtil tool saves all the application properties with users and servers assigned to those applications in an XML file. The tool also creates a text file with a folder structure. The XML file created from the application can be modified and used for republishing all the applications and also recreate the folder structure in the new farm. The other reason I like this  tool is because I wrote it

<a href="http://technorati.com/claim/fjb6bznrzw" rel="me">Technorati Profile</a>

Here I am minding of my own business listening to some online radio while getting some work done, and BAM!

Leo Laporte starts "talking to me" about GoToMeeting.

    
 
 
Listen here to Leo's GoToMeeting Radio Comercial

Sing-up to GoToMeeting Free for 30-days!

Cheers,
Gus

You've heard all the buzz around XenServer, but don't have a clue what it is or what it does!

If that sounds like you, then I highly recommend you to watch this on-demand webcast to learn more about server virtualization and how you can get it done with XenServer.

Watch it here

Watch this on-demand webniar where you can get a glimpse of the real number of users you can pack on your XenApp (Presentation Server) 
 
In this session you will learn how to:

• Identify performance bottlenecks before the system goes live
• Accurately forecast hardware capacity and scalability
• Ease regression testing and change management processes

Watch it here

Announcing the iPhone Enterprise Beta Program: a unique opportunity for IT departments to try iPhone 2.0 software before its general release. If your company is selected to participate, you'll test new iPhone enterprise features in your corporate environment, then provide Apple with valuable feedback.  

Enterprise features in iPhone 2.0 software beta.

Upcoming iPhone support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and industry-standard corporate security standards will allow IT professionals to seamlessly integrate iPhone into their enterprise environments. New features include:

• Push email
• Push contacts
• Push calendar
• Global Address List
• Certificates and identities
• WPA2/802.1X
• Enforced security policies
• More VPN protocols
• Device configuration
• Remote wipe

Too bad Apple didnt mention anything in there related to Citrix and the Citrix Client

Continue at Source: iPhone Enterprise Beta Program

Project Delaware, the next release of Citrix XenApp (the new name of Presentation Server) will bring advanced, world class Windows Application Delivery to the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 platform.

XenApp for Windows Server 2008 will continue to provide a complete application delivery system that offers both client-side and server-side application virtualization for optimal application performance and flexible delivery options.

Delaware will also bring new features and capabilities that make it the most comprehensive Application Delivery solution available.

To get in the ERP (Early Release Program) you can sign-up here:

In order to learn more and help improve our Citrix Technology Professional award, I got together with the father of the Microsoft MVP Program, a true hero to all MVPs around the world. I'm talking about Sean O'Driscoll. Sean is the General Manager for Community Support and MVP Program at Microsoft and I asked a few questions to the guy who made Microsoft MVP so valuable.

He was kind enough to stop by and chat with us right after his keynote on the MVP Summit 2008. Luckily Rich taped it all so we could share it with you guys.

Check out Sean's website:
http://communitygrouptherapy.com/

regards,
Gus Pinto

Brandon Shell (http://bsonposh.com) and I are going to do a free webinar on PowerShell and Citrix

UPDATE : Tuesday 29th April 1PM - 2PM EST.

UPDATE 28th April : International direct dial + 1 617 801 6700

We are targeting audiences with following skill.
Basic Powershell, Basic Citrix Admin Skills and Basic MFCOM experience in VB script.

Here is the rough agenda for the webinar

Powershell Basics (about 20 mins)

Object Based
Self Teaching Get-Help , Get-Command, Get-Member

• Properties
• Methods
  New-Object
• ComObject
• .NET Class

Managing Citrix Servers via PowerShell and MFCOM (about 20 mins)

Most Properties Return Objects (like Servers, Applications, Sessions)
Creating MFCOM object in Powershell
$variable = New-Object -com <MFCOM COM Name>
Examples
$mfobject = New-object -com 'MetaframeCOM.MetaFrameFarm'
$mfobject.Initialize(<int parameters>)
With just these two lines you can start exploring you Citrix Environment
$mfFarm = New-object -com 'MetaframeCOM.MetaFrameFarm'
$mfFarm.Initialize(1)
Getting Key Info To get From Farm Object
$mfFarm | Get-Member -MemberType Property # Gets just Properties
Admins
Applications
FarmName
Servers
Sessions
LicenseServer
Printers
Zones

Space is limited
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/114744868

GUS PINTO: It's noticeable the steady growth of conversations around virtualization within organizations and in the Internet today, more specifically around server and desktop virtualization.

Microsoft is readying up Hyper-V, and a lot of technologies to allow these technologies to actually happen for the large enterprise. It's going into market in partnership with Citrix and its Xen Hypervisor.

I guess the question is, what is your true feeling about virtualization in the enterprise on the server and desktop base? Is this just really hype or is this something you guys truly believe is going to happen?

RAY OZZIE: No, it's absolutely fundamental. It is absolutely going to happen.

I would say you have to take desktops separately. The logic behind virtualization on the desktop is completely separate from what it would be on the server, and in some ways it's different within the on-premises world versus the cloud. So, I'll just touch upon those independently.

Before I do that, though, let me just say that from a TS perspective, Terminal Server based deployment will always be more efficient than virtualization. It was a designed-in, multi-tenant model within the OS. So, if there are applications and solutions that fit the TS model, that's just a terrific model to use, and I would encourage organizations to use that model.

Within the enterprise, virtualization, the simplest and most straightforward way is to just make the best use of the datacenter resources that you can from a consolidation perspective. This is we are absolutely taking it seriously.

There are two phases of that consolidation. Phase one is bringing things together, meaning if you have a scale-up cluster or a scale-up, some expensive configuration of hardware, how can you package much usage on that piece of hardware as you can? The other one is then movement of images amongst the different machines within the back-end. You'll see investments progressively from us in both of those realms.

Taken to the extreme within the cloud, virtualization is absolutely critical. Virtualization is key to making the best use and securely isolating properties from multiple customers that might not use even a full inexpensive CPU, and moving them geographically or whatever to provide resilience and robustness. So, it is something that's extremely important.

On the client I'll only say that the uses of it, the way that the Mac uses it to run Windows and stuff, it's clever. Parallels, they're very clever technologies.

The way that you'll see us take advantage of it over time more and more on the client is our mechanisms around ensuring compatibility. App compat is a very, very challenging thing, and you want to continue to make progress with the operating system. We look to it as another tool in the toolbox to try to help in the compat world without -- enabling innovation while still enabling assurance of compatibility.

~snip~

I will be posting the Video with Q&A shortly.

Gus Pinto - Technology Evangelist
Microsoft MVP | gus.pinto@citrix.com

Microsoft and Citrix Evangelists hang out in Redmond on the Channel 9 - Code Trip bus and showing off their wicked cool gadgets!

Rock On!!!
Gus Pinto

P.S. For more stuff on our visit to Microsoft and MVP Summit 2008 check out Frameworkx.com

Citrix has set a launch date and pricing for its desktop virtualization platform.

XenDesktop will start shipping May 20, at the Citrix Synergy conference. The company will offer three versions: Standard, Enterprise and Platinum. The latter will include more advanced management tools, including EdgeSight Monitoring, to keep track of how the system performs.

Pricing will begin at $75 per concurrent user.

Citrix calls XenDesktop a desktop delivery solution, which allows companies to virtualize Windows desktops in the datacenter and then deliver them on demand to office workers in any location.

The promise is to lower complexity and management costs by as much as by 40 percent compared to a traditional desktop, according to Citrix.

To do that Citrix wants to separate the management of operating systems and applications, which will solve the problem of virtual desktop "image sprawl".

XenDesktop will centrally manage the operating systems: end users will get a new desktop at each login.

"If you take the applications out of the equation you'll be able to use the same image for thousands of users, instead of one for every user," said Dave Austin, director of product marketing at Citrix in EMEA.

The centralization of the desktop will also offer significant improvements to traditional Citrix customers.

Continue at Source: http://www.frameworkx.com/

Rich's recent post sparkled a long thread debating if the hame Citrix Technology Professional is the right name for the Award Citrix currently gives to exceptional individuals in our community.
 
I wanted to know what the general public thinks of that, if they like the current name or they choose something different.
 
I put together a quick poll so you guys can voice it up, and let us know what you think! 

What is the best name for the Citrix Award, currently known as CTP?	Choose
Citrix Technology Professional (No Change)
Citrix Most Valuable Professional (Citrix MVP)
Citrix Very Important Professional (Citrix VIP)

cheers,
Gus

*It seems like Citrix MVP has the lead!? I will keep the polls open for another week!

This page contains links to all current Citrix products documentation, you can literaly get to it with 1 or 2 clicks!

Forget about searching, bookmark this address:

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX116089

Many customers who use Citrix XenApp (formerly known as Citrix Presentation Server) have leveraged Resource Manager for performance metrics and reporting on the health of their Citrix XenApp environments. The capability of measuring end-user experience and having visibility into an application's availability, performance and functionality on Citrix XenApp is becoming increasingly important.

EdgeSight for XenApp enhances Resource Manager's capabilities by capturing, aggregating and reporting on end-user and application experience all in a single, easy-to-use interface. The end result is the ability to monitor and measure the successful delivery of an application to any user, over any network, to any device.

This white paper will provide a high-level overview on how to successfully transition your Citrix management architecture from Resource Manager to EdgeSight 4.5 for XenApp. The key areas of focus include:

• Overview of Resource Manager & EdgeSight Architecture
• Feature Comparison & EdgeSight Benefits
• EdgeSight Planning Considerations
• Transition Strategy and Key Points

To learn more and to read the entire article please refer to the rest of the article at its source: CTX116798 - Resource Manager to EdgeSight Migration

Gus Pinto - Technology Evangelist
Microsoft MVP | Citrix Technology Professional
gus.pinto@citrix.com

First of all, I feel compelled to introduce to all of you the CTP Award as many in this industry and even other Citrix employees don't know about this award given to exceptional professionals who excel on sharing knowledge freely about Citrix products and solutions.

What's the Citrix Technology Professional Award?

Citrix recognize and awards the most active and recognized individuals in the industry. Citrix presents the CTP Award to thank individuals for their exceptional contributions to technical communities worldwide. CTPs are active in the technical community, whether in a newsgroup, as a user group host, a conference speaker, or a respondent in forums, all users can be confident that the information shared by a CTP will be of the highest caliber and will help every user make the most of the technology.

Citrix also benefits from engaging with CTPs through conferences, conference calls, CTP Summit, and other events. CTPs share with Citrix their independent, real-world feedback with us, therefore helping Citrix better understand users' needs, improve current products, and develop future technology.

Who Are the CTPs?

Most in this list are personal friends of mine and I have to say I'm proud to be part of this industry, and sure enough they all deserve our thank you and admiration.

Keep up the good work guys!

See y'all in Seattle next week!

Cheers,
Gus Pinto

Microsoft and Citrix are hosting a killer virtualization seminar in The City on the 21^st of April.

I highly recommend all of you tech dudes in the bay area to get in the loop and learn more about Virtualization technologies today and the road ahead.

Here's the schedule for the day:

Oh yeah, I almost forgot that attendees could win an 80 GB Zune!