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The Citrix Blog
Personal Blog
Derek Thorslund
posted by Derek Thorslund

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:

Enjoy!

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, HDX Multimedia Virtualization

Labels

hdx hdx Delete
mediastream mediastream Delete
flash flash Delete
apollo apollo Delete
multimedia virtualization multimedia_virtualization Delete
redirection redirection Delete
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xenapp xenapp Delete
hdx hdx Delete
xendesktop xendesktop Delete
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  1. May 08, 2009

    Mark Prigg says:

    I just tried to install the server component to my XenApp5 \ Win2008 x64 server ...

    I just tried to install the server component to my XenApp5 \ Win2008 x64 server and it failed with a message that it "does not support 64-bit operating systems". Will there be a release which will work on 64-bit systems? Thanks, Mark.

    1. May 08, 2009

      Derek Thorslund says:

      Thanks for highlighting that, Mark. The current Trial Release is indeed for 32-b...

      Thanks for highlighting that, Mark. The current Trial Release is indeed for 32-bit operating systems only. We are planning a second trial release that will add support for 64-bit Windows Server, and I'll be sure to announce it in this blog.

      Derek

      1. May 08, 2009

        Mark Prigg says:

        No worries - thanks Derek. Regards, Mark

        No worries - thanks Derek.

        Regards, Mark

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  2. May 08, 2009

    Juan Rivera says:

    This screencast is an introduction of the technology and what problems we s...

    This screencast is an introduction of the technology and what problems we solve with HDX MediaStream for Flash:

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrvxVZFHfQo

    This screencast shows local experience vs. XenApp + HDX MediaStram for Flash experience:

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEiYNWVeD98

    Enjoy,

    Juan Rivera

    www.twitter.com/juancitrix

    1. May 08, 2009

      Mark Prigg says:

      Hi Juan, I've been testing this trial release and it works really well. I have ...

      Hi Juan, I've been testing this trial release and it works really well. I have compared performance with \ without it, and it is pretty impressive.

      I have a slight concern about the 'pseudocontainer.exe' client process CPU usage on the workstation, especially as it continues running with such intensity when the Flash web page in Citrix is hidden or minimised (due to the fact that the usual ICA screen refresh mechanism isn't used I guess). Whether this could impact a Citrix session if a user minimises the web page and does other things, I'm not sure. I didn't notice any issue in my test session.

      We know that a high CPU-spiking process on a client can impact performance of a terminal server session from that client. However, in theory the client > server bandwidth being hammered in tandem with the client CPU usage is the issue, and as HDX removes the client>server element, it may be okay.

      If you could find a way of dropping the client process CPU usage if a web site is minimised, that'd be great. Trouble is, this is probably very hard to do because there's no client->server bandwidth usage and is rendered locally, so there's no way of it knowing.

      Thanks, Mark

  3. May 08, 2009

    Randall Wood says:

    Will a tech preview for Linux clients be available soon?

    Will a tech preview for Linux clients be available soon?

    1. May 08, 2009

      Derek Thorslund says:

      Redirection of Adobe Flash content to a Flash Player running on a Linux client i...

      Redirection of Adobe Flash content to a Flash Player running on a Linux client is still a ways off, but the improvements introduced in XenDesktop 3 Feature Pack 1 to the delivery of server-rendered video and animation (see my previous blog post) provide an immediate benefit to users on Linux devices. On XenApp, the frame rate for server-rendered video can be increased by tuning the LongFrameBuildupTime and LongFrameReviewTime registry settings. And project Ulysses will introduce new audio codec technology for outstanding sound quality with minimal bandwidth consumption.

      Derek

      1. May 10, 2009

        Anonymous says:

        Hi Derek, When this new codec that Citrix are doing under project Ulysses will ...

        Hi Derek,

        When this new codec that Citrix are doing under project Ulysses will came out?

        1. May 11, 2009

          Derek Thorslund says:

          Hello Anonymous, Our goal is to get an Early Release out this summer with the ...

          Hello Anonymous,

          Our goal is to get an Early Release out this summer with the Ulysses audio codec technology. I can't comment about General Availability targets in this blog, only under NDA.

          Derek

  4. May 09, 2009

    Mark Prigg says:

    Hi, Is support for Apple Mac clients planned? I gather the HDX MediaStream \ ...

    Hi,

    Is support for Apple Mac clients planned? I gather the HDX MediaStream \ SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration technology, which has been around since MPS3.0, may be available for Mac clients in the not too distant future hopefully. I wondered if this also applied to HDX MediaStream for Flash? I guess the client-side Flash requirement may be the issue perhaps.

    I've carried out quite a bit of testing of this beta of HDX M/S for Flash, and it's looking really good. As mentioned in a previous post, the only thing that slightly concerned me was the pseudocontainer.exe client CPU usage ...but if that doesn't impact the XenApp session from that client, it's no problem.

    Many thanks,
    Mark

    1. May 11, 2009

      Derek Thorslund says:

      Hi Mark, Planning is still in progress for porting this technology to non-Wind...

      Hi Mark,

      Planning is still in progress for porting this technology to non-Windows devices. Adobe does offer Flash Player 10 for Mac OS X, so it should be possible to support Flash redirection to Apple Mac clients. However, it may be tricky to support Internet Explorer as the hosted browser when communicating with a non-Windows client. I'd like to get comments from readers on whether they would use a Flash redirection solution that potentially requires using Firefox on the VDA, or would just stick with server-side rendering pending a RAVE solution that includes Internet Explorer.

      Derek

      1. May 11, 2009

        Mark Prigg says:

        Hi Derek, Would we need Firefox on the XenApp server potentially? Thanks, Mark

        Hi Derek,

        Would we need Firefox on the XenApp server potentially?

        Thanks, Mark

        1. May 11, 2009

          Derek Thorslund says:

          Think of it more as a "what if" question. What if Citrix introduced a trial vers...

          Think of it more as a "what if" question. What if Citrix introduced a trial version of Flash redirection for Linux endpoints that required Firefox on the server (XenApp or XenDesktop)? What percentage of customers would want us to productize that? Let's assume that we could deliver a Firefox solution sooner than an Internet Explorer solution, since Flash 10 for Mac and Linux works with Firefox but not with Internet Explorer. How many Citrix customers would adopt such a solution? How many would say, "Nice, but I'll stick with server-side rendering until you can find a way to make it work with Internet Explorer"? Comments welcome, folks!

          1. May 12, 2009

            Mark Prigg says:

            Introducing another browser on our XenApp servers would be hard for us to do (fo...

            Introducing another browser on our XenApp servers would be hard for us to do (for a couple of reasons) and we'd probably be inclined to wait for Flash redirection when available for IE, using server-side rendering in the meantime.  To be honest, we only need to cater for Apple Mac clients for users connecting in from home, and as this would be via their home broadband connection, their use of media (Flash or otherwise) is constrained by these factors anyway. I guess the redirection would perform better across this kind of connection though, as at least the client\server bandwidth usage is less compared to the server-side rendering.

            Regards, Mark

  5. May 09, 2009

    Anonymous says:

    Hi, I also just wondered if the hotfix that allows Flash to use the Medium qual...

    Hi,

    I also just wondered if the hotfix that allows Flash to use the Medium quality setting will be made available for XenApp5. Currently SpeedScreen Flash Acceleration switches quality from High to Low. We have a CPS4.0 hotfix which allows us to default to Medium - which still reduces the impact to the server and network (compared to High) while being visually okay still for users (for some sites).

    Many thanks,
    Mark

    1. May 11, 2009

      Derek Thorslund says:

      The enhancement to server-side rendering of Flash to switch the Adobe Flash Play...

      The enhancement to server-side rendering of Flash to switch the Adobe Flash Player to Medium quality (instead of Low) is crrently available with HRP04 for XenApp 5 / PS 4.5 for Windows Server 2003 (32-bit and 64-bit).

      1. May 11, 2009

        Mark Prigg says:

        Hi Derek, Are there any plans to make this available for XenApp5 on Windows Ser...

        Hi Derek,

        Are there any plans to make this available for XenApp5 on Windows Server 2008, just in case we do any server-side rendering of Flash as an alternative (or in advance of) HDX M/S for Flash?

        Thanks,
        Mark

        1. May 11, 2009

          Derek Thorslund says:

          Customers using XA5 on WS08 should work through Technical Support to request th...

          Customers using XA5 on WS08 should work through Technical Support to request this enhanced functionality.

          1. May 12, 2009

            Mark Prigg says:

            No problem  - I think we have a request in for this. Thanks, Mark

            No problem  - I think we have a request in for this.

            Thanks, Mark

  6. May 13, 2009

    Anonymous says:

    Please can some one clarify if this can be tested on 4.5 "The server compo...

    Please can some one clarify if this can be tested on 4.5

    "The server component, which is installed on... or Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 for Windows "

    Server Installation Requirements:

    " Install 32-bit versions of one of the following before installing HDX MediaStream for Flash

    Citrix XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2003 or Citrix XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008 (may include XenApp 5 Feature Pack) "

    Thanks

    1. May 14, 2009

      Anonymous says:

      Yes, it works on PS 4.5.

      Yes, it works on PS 4.5.

  7. Jul 15

    Paul Leclair says:

    I would really like to know which platforms will be supported by the final ...

    I would really like to know which platforms will be supported by the final release of the HDX Flash?

    -PS 4.5 on 2003? 32/64bit

    -XA 5 on 2003? 32/64bit

    -XA 5 on 2008?

    We are really interested in getting this into our 32bit PS4.5 FP1 farm.  Can we rest assured knowing it will be supported, or should we start planning for XA5 on 2008 to support this?

    Thanks

    1. Jul 15

      Cris Lau says:

      Hi Paul, thank you for your interest in HDX MediaStream for Flash. We plan to re...

      Hi Paul, thank you for your interest in HDX MediaStream for Flash. We plan to release this feature by the end of September, for PS 4.5/XenApp 5.0 running on Windows Server 2003 (32/64bit). Furthermore, HDX MediaStream for Flash will be available to customers as a benefit of their Subscription Advantage (SA). This means all customers current on SA will be able run this feature in their XenApp farm. I hope this helps.

      Customers not current on SA or not familar with Subscription Advantage, you can get more information here http://www.citrix.com/English/SS/supportSecond.asp?slID=3682

      1. Oct 20

        Anonymous says:

        The trial version of HDX Media Stream for Flash had support for Windows Server 2...

        The trial version of HDX Media Stream for Flash had support for Windows Server 2008.

        When will Citrix support for Windows Server 2008 in a sharp version?

  8. Oct 28

    Anonymous says:

    Hi, I know you earlier said that non-window clients were still being planned. D...

    Hi,

    I know you earlier said that non-window clients were still being planned. Do you know if you have anymore info on a mac client?

    regards

    D

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