HDX MediaStream does a fantastic job of reducing the network bandwidth requirements for streamed video compared with rending the video on the server. When using HDX MediaStream your bandwidth requirements roughly equal the bit rate of the source video file. For lower quality clips, like those found on YouTube, this is around 256Kbps. For full HD content the bandwidth requirements can be as high as 8Mbps.

While this works great over a high speed LAN, trying to push that amount of data over typical branch office T-1 is another story. This problem is magnified even more when you have multiple users in the branch office who are repeatedly pulling down the same video content. In this situation, the video quality suffers and other business applications can be impacted. This issue has nothing to do with XenApp or XenDesktop. It is purely a function of the size of video file and the limited amount of available network bandwidth.

What can you do about this? Well if the culprit is the latest viral video making its way around the Internet you could attempt to block access to sites like YouTube. However, what if the video is for legitimate business purposes? I talked to one customer at Synergy who is rolling out a corporate compliance training video to their entire company using XenApp but is worried about the impact to network bandwidth.

Enter Citrix Branch Repeater and HDX IntelliCache. With Branch Repeater 5 we now participate in the ICA session and accelerate the ICA virtual channel used by HDX MediaStream. The first time the video is streamed to the branch office, Branch Repeater caches the content locally. The next time the video is requested, Branch Repeater serves the content from its local cache rather than pulling it across the WAN. Using branch caching, you can reduce the bandwidth requirements for on-demand videos by up to 90%.

Don't just take my word for it. You can see a demo if this in action on the latest edition of Brian Madden TV. (If you don't want to watch the entire episode you can jump ahead to 5:49 into the clip).

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

The upcoming release of Feature Pack 1 for XenDesktop 3 in early May marks two significant steps forward in the delivery of Adobe Flash content from XenDesktop.

First of all, a Trial Release of HDX MediaStream for Flash is being introduced that offloads the rendering of Flash content to the user's Windows PC or Windows XP Embedded desktop appliance. This results in a "high definition" user experience when using Internet Explorer to access Flash content including animations, videos and applications. And it reduces server and network load, resulting in higher scalability. The Trial Release, suitable for "proof-of-concept" evaluations, will give the market an early look at the industry's first and only Flash acceleration solution for virtual desktops.

Comments from customers who participated in our alpha program for this new technology were extremely positive. One wrote: "It's a lot of fun impressing my co-workers with the performance, especially with our training content. Another way I like to 'flex the muscles' of Flash acceleration is to go to www.gametrailers.com, open a high definition Flash video in a published IE instance and watch it run with super smooth performance with nearly no impact on the Citrix server. It's jaw dropping to those who are familiar with the old limitations of Flash and Citrix." Some people have even been using this technology for Flash-based video conferencing (yes, you can plug in a webcam!) and to run Adobe Flex applications. And by the way (I'm sure Sridhar will blog about this), the Trial Release supports XenApp, too!

Secondly, Feature Pack 1 also introduces improved performance for server-side video rendering. This is valuable for customers unable to run the Flash Player on the user's access device. With Feature Pack 1, you'll notice a marked improvement in video quality thanks to an increase in frame rate and other optimizations. Besides benefiting server-rendered Flash content, this improves QuickTime and Silverlight video playback, too. In fact, it also delivers a better experience with PowerPoint animations and similar effects. And even when available network bandwidth is less than ideal, XenDesktop continues to deliver a decent video experience while other solutions degenerate into a "slide show".

81% of Citrix customers surveyed need to deliver training videos and eLearning courses to their users, and many of these are Flash-based. Add to that the widespread use of Flash on web sites and the growth of Flash-based applications, and there's no doubt that these two big advances in Flash content delivery will be a hit.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, HDX Multimedia Virtualization

If you have a Direct3D based application that consumes a lot of CPU running on Windows Server 2003, consider hosting it on XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008. The reason? Under WS08, Direct3D apps can take advantage of graphics processing hardware on the server to do the graphics rendering. As a result, you'll likely find that you can provide better performance to your users and increase the number of concurrent users per server compared to using software rendering (see my earlier blog post). The one key limitation is that the apps must run in 16-bit (5-6-5) color mode ("High color") since the solution does not currently support 24-bit or 32-bit color. Also, running on a hypervisor is not yet possible, until the hypervisor and graphics vendors introduce GPU virtualization technology.

DirectX hardware acceleration can be used together with the Progressive Display feature of HDX 3D. One customer recently commented that the bandwidth requirement to deliver a particular Direct3D graphics application with good performance using these technologies was 1.5 Mbps for the first user plus 0.5 Mbps for each successive user. This has made XenApp a very attractive platform for delivering the application to their remote users.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, HDX Multimedia Virtualization

Does the Citrix HDX story still elude you? Here's a whiteboard approach.

Let me know if this helps.

Michael

If embedding is broken for you, please see youtube version.

Have you been hearing about the new Citrix HDX Technologies? Have you heard that HDX enables branch office users to get that "high definition" XenApp experience? Are you still trying to figure out what this all really means?

• What is driving branch offices to virtualize their applications
• What are branch offices doing about the WAN
• What Citrix Branch Repeater does for XenApp
• How HDX Broadcast and HDX IntelliCache deliver a high-def branch experience

The whitepaper (CTX120455) is available for download on the Branch Repeater section of the Citrix Knowledge Center.

Here's a straightforward (and hype-free) introduction to HDX. Let me know what you think.

Put very simply, HDX (or High Definition eXperience) is our way to talk about all the elements of the Citrix remote access technology that affect the user's computing experience. It's designed to provide a Systematic Framework to talk about the Citrix Delivery Center in a way that focuses upon the user experience. It takes all the elements that might impact on the end-user's XenApp or XenDesktop experience and provides a straight forward way to talk about them. It also elevates the discussion beyond protocols. Don't worry, the ICA protocol remains a key part of the Citrix story, but the ability of our solutions to deliver a great user experience is much broader than simply talking about a remoting protocol.

In the following I build the story step by step.

HDX - Broadcast

HDX - Broadcast refers to Citrix capabilities for providing virtual desktops and applications over any network. It provides the underlying transport for many of the other HDX technologies. HDX - Broadcast includes many of the technologies very familiar to ICA experts such as instant mouse click feedback, keystroke latency reduction, multi-level compression, session reliability, and queuing and tossing.

HDX - Plug and Play

HDX - Plug and Play refers to current and future capabilities to provide connectivity for local devices and applications in a virtualized environment, including USB, multi-monitor, printers, and peripherals. HDX - Plug and Play includes technologies such as multi-monitor support, smart card support, special folder redirection, universal printing, file-type association, and USB support.

HDX - 3D

HDX - 3D refers to Citrix current and future capabilities in remoting high end graphics. It rests upon and extends our HDX - Broadcast capabilities. HDX - 3D includes technologies like image acceleration and progressive display for graphically intensive images. Soon it will include a range of new 3D acceleration technologies from Project Apollo.

HDX - MediaStream

HDX - MediaStream refers to Citrix current and future capabilities for multimedia such as sound and video. It also rests upon and extends our HDX - Broadcast capabilities. HDX MediaStream includes technologies for streaming media files to the client device for playing via local codecs with seamless embedding into the remote session.

HDX - RealTime

HDX - RealTime refers to Citrix current and future capabilities for real time communications such as voice and web cameras. It rests upon and extends our HDX - Broadcast capabilities. HDX - RealTime is today a work in progress with several technologies ranging from EasyCall to our bi-directional audio functionality. The near future will see dramatic enhancements to our ability to support real-time communication via both voice and video on the remote client.

HDX - IntelliCache

HDX - IntelliCache refers to Citrix current and future capabilities to locally cache bandwidth intensive data and graphics and locally stage streamed applications. Here we use Branch Repeater to illustrate IntelliCache as it caches common application display data for multiple users locally to the branch office, eliminating redundant transfer of commonly used application objects.

HDX - Adaptive Orchestration

HDX - Adaptive Orchestration refers to current and future capabilities that enable seamless interaction between the HDX Technology categories. A central concept is that all these components work adaptively to tune the unified HDX offering for the best possible user experience.

HDX Technology Futures

Citrix has a broad range of technologies under R&D that will continue to build the HDX story. (Some of you will have heard of project Apollo ... hint - check out Derek Thorsland's posts)

Other Sources

1. Citrix HDX Technology Press Release
2. Citrix HDX Technology Web Site
3. Citrix creates the "HDX" brand to compete against those who say they 'just' have ICA - Brian Madden

You may have seen that we recently announced a new brand for our user experience called Citrix HDX technologies, (www.citrix.com/hdx). Before you relegate this announcement to being perhaps just a marketing initiative, I wanted to give a perspective from someone who has been involved for many years living at the "pointy end" of user experience.

First, an introduction; I've been with Citrix for 12 years and based in Sydney Australia, effectively at the end of a narrow, twisted connectivity pipe, with bandwidth and latency challenges for communication back to our Fort Lauderdale headquarters. While frustrating at times this has been the source of a variety of innovations as I challenged my team to make the experience as good as being local. For example, the architecture for remoting the keyboard in our XenApp product requires a character that is typed by a user to transit from the user device to the XenApp server and then back to the client to finally display on the screen. Well, you can imagine that if there is latency in your internet connection of say 300ms the delay from typing to displaying on the screen can be quite disconcerting. I challenged the team to come up with a solution that would echo the character first, make a guess as to the position on the screen and font and then later when the real character arrives back from the server to autocorrect if the prediction was wrong. Initially there was a "can't be done" reaction, but on deeper thought a solution was derived and we have what is now know as Text Prediction in our XenApp product.

Let's wind the clock forward to the present. Citrix has been the gold standard for many years in the application and desktop virtualization areas, but now we have competitors trying to encroach in on our market share. Some of these competitors are focussing on our early value proposition, the ICA protocol, as a way to show product parity with the market leader. The HDX initiative is one way that we can demonstrate to our customers and the market that we are much, much more than just ICA. Another way to think about this is that we've been talking about all of our end user features as a long list of separate items that are difficult for the customer and prospects to fully internalize. By providing the HDX categories, we are able to make the story coherent and easy to understand.

The diagram above shows in a simpler way, rather than long winded text descriptions how all the HDX categories work together.

So what's next, well HDX is an evolving thing, there are lots of cool enhancements coming this year that will the raising the bar even further in the HDX 3D, HDX Plug-n-Play and HDX RealTime categories. Stay tuned...

I can even go a step further and make a prediction, while HDX is great in delivering the user experience, a further enhancement would be for the user to actually be able to measure their HDX experience in real time.

I'll be in Synergy 2009 in Vegas participating in a number of the sessions as well as GeekSpeak Live. See you there!

Does your organization deliver virtual applications to the branch office over a sloooow WAN link?
Are you tired of trying to fix all of your WAN issues with a bigger and more expensive WAN connection?

There has to be a better solution...
Citrix Branch Repeater and XenApp work in concert to deliver a "high-definition" branch office experience, drastically improving the XenApp experience to branch office users. Using Citrix HDXTechnology, Branch Repeater and HDX IntelliCache adaptively orchestrate with XenApp to disable the native ICA compression used for optimizing single-user sessions.

Just how much better?

• Branch Repeater reduces XenApp traffic by up to 95 percent, increasing file transfer throughput by up to 20 times and increasing print traffic throughput by up to 33 times.
• Together these enhancements allow customers to serve up to 4x more XenApp users in each branch without upgrading bandwidth.

Learn more about ICA Optimization, how to deploy the components, and see the High Definition branch experience yourself in this exciting demo, which can also be found on the Branch Repeater demo page of Citrix.com.

As I promised in my blog post about SmartRendering (a key aspect of HDX Adaptive Orchestration), here's a video that demonstrates a new Citrix technology for leveraging the graphics processor on the user's PC or deskop appliance to locally render DirectX graphics. HDX Adaptive Orchestration queries the graphics capabilities of the endpoint device and intelligently determines how to combine client-side and server-side rendering. Furthermore, rendering decisions can be made based on available network bandwidth or application characteristics. The result is a high definition user experience, increased server scalability and optimal use of network bandwidth. This video shows how the Windows Aero desktop and WPF-based data visualization applications can be delivered using DirectX command remoting while an OpenGL-based GIS application is delivered using accelerated bitmap remoting.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

This is a follow up to my earlier blog.

Do you wish to use your iPhone to access Flash based applications? So far you are out of luck. According to the recent news article from CNET, "Flash 10 coming to most smartphones in 2010". And iPhone is not on the list.

But why wait? With the upcoming Citrix receiver for iPhone, you will be able to run Flash based applications not only from iPhone but also from many other popular mobile devices. Initially the focus will be to support business applications.

The Citrix technology also adds another additional layer of security by only transmitting the display to the mobile devices. A typical flash based business intelligence report may contain sensitive data. If downloaded directly to a mobile device, the data may be vulnerable to leaks. For business users,the added security may be important.

Here is a quick preview of what is to come.

Here is the iPhone friendly version

A business intelligence application is demonstrated above. You can find the demo application at this Adobe web site.

If you know any Flash enabled web application/sites that may be useful when accessed from iPhone, could you let me know by posting comments?

Please check out our iPhone project community site for more details.

Ray (Ruiguo) Yang
Check out my other blogs

The senior architect at a major bank recently told me how they use Wyse TCX USB Virtualizer to deliver the Cisco IP Communicator softphone from XenDesktop to LAN-connected users. The Wyse V10L thin clients are equipped with Netcom GN 2000 USB headsets. He reports that the audio quality over USB is "excellent" and bandwidth consumption appears to be minimal. Sounds like a great solution for delivering potentially any softphone from XenDesktop to Wyse thin clients and desktop appliances!

So what about users who don't have a Wyse thin client? As part of the expansion of our HDX RealTime technologies, Citrix is near to completing the development of an enhanced audio subsystem for XenDesktop, comparable to what we have in XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008. The HDX RealTime audio subsystem will provide broad compatibility with softphones and the "voice chat" feature of Unified Communications applications. And later this year, look for news of further enhancements to HDX RealTime with the Ulysses audio codec technology that I blogged about some time ago, designed to provide outstanding audio quality with minimal bandwidth consumption. These enhancements are aimed at improving the multimedia virtual desktop experience for on-premises users while establishing a foundation for future support of VoIP for remote workers.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

Interested in Multimedia Virtualization? Here are some new capabilities that we are now announcing:

• HDX MediaStream for XenDesktop. HDX is a set of technologies designed to deliver a high-definition user experience for virtual desktops and applications. HDX MediaStream accelerates the delivery of a variety of multimedia formats including WMV (and WMV HD), WMA, MP3, and MPEG-4. This is done by leveraging the power of the endpoint device to render the multimedia content. HDX Adaptive Orchestration (see my SmartRendering blog post) provides for automatic fallback to server-side rendering if the client is not equipped for local rendering.

• HDX MediaStream for Linux. Version 11.0 of the Linux client will soon be available for download, introducing multimedia acceleration just as in our Win32 and WinCE plug-ins. This client supports both XenDesktop and XenApp.
  
  

Also, the new 11.1 version of the Citrix Desktop Receiver, introduced in conjunction with XenDesktop 3, offers improved performance for LAN users by making better use of available network bandwidth. This enhancement, part of HDX Broadcast, is especially valuable when working with graphics and multimedia.

And there's more to come . . . I just need more time to blog!

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

Now that the covers are off on our 2nd and 3rd big announcements of 2009 so far - XenDesktop 3 and HDX technology- I've been getting lots of followup questions.

• "Is it immediately available?" Soon! We officially said February 2009, so we have a few weeks yet in the month to stay true to that
• "What does HDX stand for?" The official answer is "High Definition User Experience" but I have seen "High Definition Xen" and "High Def Extensions" which are kinda cool, too - but wrong... So be an insider and get it right!
• "Is HDX just a new name for ICA or SpeedScreen or..." NO. HDX is a much broader technology statement and vision than just a protocol or individual technology. Just like they say it takes a village to raise a child - it takes a delivery system and a community of partners to truly create the best user experience. HDX signifies a strategy to essentially do whatever it takes to create that user experience - and we're not thinking just inside the boundaries of what a protocol can do...
• "Is Desktop Streaming related to Project Independence?" No - not at this time anyway. Desktop streaming is part of the way that we extend the concept of single image management and desktop delivery to LAN-connected office workers using fairly standardized PC hardware. Independence is part of our strategy for addressing mobile worker use cases and BYOC initiatives.

That's it for now, I'll add to the list as I get more frequently asked questions.

A key strategic concept that guides the Citrix Multimedia Virtualization Initiative (project Apollo) is "SmartRendering". This term describes the intelligent, automated combination of server-side and client-side rendering of graphics and media streams. SmartRendering considers such factors as the attributes of the application, the capabilities of the client and the server, and the characteristics of the network, to ensure an optimal user experience and the most efficient use of computing resources.

Many exciting new developments lie ahead as we extend SmartRendering to how we will deliver Aero desktops (introduced in Vista and enhanced in Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 release with "Aero Peek"), next generation applications (such as data visualization applications built on Windows Presentation Foundation), Flash videos (including HD videos rendered with Adobe's H.264 codec) and 3D professional graphics (OpenGL and DirectX).

Although SmartRendering is a technology with lots of innovation and evolution still to come, it already plays an important part in how XenApp and XenDesktop deliver multimedia/graphics content in our currently shipping releases. Our software continually monitors the network and dynamically adjusts how it sends data to the client. And it constantly makes decisions about how best to render the GDI/GDI+ graphics used in most applications today. Often, SmartRendering will send GDI commands over the wire to be rendered by the graphics processor (GPU) on the client device, offloading the server to maximize scalability. In other cases, SmartRendering will determine that it is more efficient to render the graphics on the server and send a compressed bitmap image over the wire, with SuperCaching to eliminate redundant transmissions.

SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration, based on Citrix's RAVE technology and included with XenApp since Presentation Server 3.0 (introduced in 2004), also employs SmartRendering. If the user's device is capable of decoding a video using its own resources, SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration leverages the client's CPU and the appropriate codec, with automatic fallback to server-side rendering when needed. The result is a high definition user experience and outstanding server scalability. Very soon, you'll see this feature in XenDesktop, too, and supported by our Linux plugin (client) for both XenApp and XenDesktop.

Other vendors are starting to implement similar techniques. Wyse offers TCX Multimedia and has announced its Collaborative Processing Architecture which "intelligently divides the workload between the server and client, reducing the need for larger servers". And Microsoft's upcoming Windows Server 2008 R2 release will deliver multimedia content "by redirecting multimedia files and streams so that audio and video content is sent in its original format from the server to the (Windows 7) client and rendered using the client's local media playback capabilities."

In an upcoming blog post, I plan to show you a video demonstration of a new SmartRendering capability now under development at Citrix that leverages a DirectX 9 or better graphics processor on the endpoint for client-side rendering of the full Aero desktop experience. And it doesn't require Vista or Windows 7 on the user's device. So stay tuned because SmartRendering is going to get even more powerful!

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

In this 4-minute video I interview Nitin Desai, team lead for the 3D professional graphics subproject of our Apollo multimedia virtualization initiative, and he demonstrates a high-end CAD application - CATIA V5.19 from Dassault - running on XenDesktop with graphics hardware acceleration. This technology, available as a Tech Preview, enables organizations to deliver DirectX and OpenGL applications and large 3D models over DSL-like network connections while keeping their intellectual property safe within the data center.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

It is always exciting when the first emails start to come in with feedback on a new software release. A few weeks ago, the Apollo team put out a second Tech Preview release of our accelerated bitmap remoting technology for 3D graphics acceleration on XenDesktop. This release introduced support for delivering 3D professional graphics applications -- both OpenGL and DirectX based -- over a DSL-like WAN/Internet connection (1.5 - 6 Mbps). With this new technology, companies can keep their intellectual property safe in the delivery center while enabling workers to access 3D applications remotely, even from another continent. Here are some of the early comments:

• "We have been extremely impressed by early results while testing the Apollo Tech Preview with [Autodesk] Revit Architecture." -- Global architectural firm, testing over high latency trans-Atlantic WAN links.
• "The [test subjects'] reactions are positive so far. At 1.5 Mbps it is still very usable." -- Major software vendor.
• "So far this is the only product to have anywhere near acceptable performance." -- Top tier system integrator.
• "[We're] doing user testing and so far everyone is loving it." -- Diversified manufacturer of commercial and defense products.

Based on the positive response, we are now accepting additional organizations into our Tech Preview Program. So if you'd like to "kick the tires", please complete the application form at www.citrix.com/apollo3Dgraphics.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

Can you run Direct3D apps on XenApp? What about WPF apps?

Direct3D, part of Microsoft's DirectX API, is used to render 3D graphics in applications where high performance is required. Direct3D apps are not generally supported on XenApp because they require hardware acceleration. That's what kicked off the 3D acceleration technology being developed by Citrix under project Apollo. However, some Direct3D apps will fall back to software rendering, so they can be hosted on XenApp. It depends on whether the software developer has enabled fallback to the software rasterizer. Be aware that Direct3D apps may consume a lot of CPU to do the graphics rendering, especially if they make use of a lot of fancy effects. You'll probably want a multi-core server with lots of memory to deliver these apps.

WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation, the graphical subsystem of .NET Framework 3.0 and above), although Direct3D based, automatically falls back to software rendering when no GPU is available. WPF apps have been supported on XenApp as of PS 4.5 FP1 which was released in September 2007. They will run on XenApp for Windows Server 2003 when 16-bit or "5-6-5" color (also called "High color") is configured. With Windows Server 2008, 24-bit or "8-8-8" color ("True color") is also supported.

Depending on the WPF functionality that is leveraged by the application, performance and scalability on XenApp will vary. SpeedScreen Progressive Display optimizes the delivery of rendered graphics to the client device via compression and auto-sharpening. However, WPF applications using intensive 3D graphics or fading effects will consume more CPU and memory than typical GDI applications, so you can expect server scalability to be lower. Another challenge for project Apollo . . .

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

Many organizations have a need to give certain remote workers access to 3D graphics and imaging applications, but that has been a big challenge in the past. Managing high-end graphics workstations at remote locations isn't easy. And even if the user has the right equipment, pulling up large design drawings (potentially millions of vertices) from a central database over a network connection can be agonizingly slow. On top of that, the company's intellectual property may be exposed because the data has to be sent over the network to the user's workstation.

Citrix solved these challenges for 2D and lightweight 3D graphics with the introduction of SpeedScreen Progressive Display in XenApp PS 4.5 (also included in XenDesktop), and since then we have been working on combining our remoting technologies with 3D graphics hardware acceleration. One of the new technologies being developed under the Citrix Multimedia Virtualization Initiative is Apollo Accelerated Bitmap Remoting (ABR), and we're about to unveil our second Tech Preview of Apollo ABR on October 27, 2008. Whereas our first Tech Preview release was focused on demonstrating the ability to deliver DirectX applications and Vista Aero desktops with full animation and glass effects, this new release is all about delivery over DSL-like WAN/Internet connections. This will allow organizations to effectively deliver high-end 3D graphics and imaging applications to remote users who have standard PCs or recent-model desktop appliances. Centralization allows organizations to protect their intellectual property and reduce IT management costs and complexity. It even opens up the potential for organizations to recruit professionals from around the world.

Apollo ABR is a XenDesktop-based technology that leverages a graphics processing unit (GPU) on the host workstation in the delivery center to render 3D graphics. Users connect through the XenDesktop Desktop Delivery Controller. A special version of the XenDesktop plugin (client) has been created for Apollo ABR to optimize the user experience over DSL-like network connections (2-6 Mbps).

If your organization would like to evaluate Apollo ABR Tech Preview 2, please review the information on our web page and complete the application form. Applications will be evaluated according to match against Citrix's objectives for the Tech Preview program, variety and graphics-intensity of applications, and resource availability for support.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization