Are there any links to written material on this project? I kicked off a discussion called "Is it time to stop buying thin client devices" over on Brian Madden's website which was triggered via this very subject - concern over whether Citrix PS can hack it in the rich multimedia world towards which we are all heading, whether we like it or not... Thanks, Rob.

Reply to Rob (InforMed): Glad to see the interest in learning more about our Multimedia Virtualization Initiative! Quite a lot has been written about the various SpeedScreen technologies -- there are half a dozen of them (does anyone want to try to name them all?) -- that now exist in the current Presentation Server 4.5 product, and I plan to use this blog to direct readers to such material and fill in some of the blanks. I'm also going to be posting on several of the exciting multimedia virtualization technologies now in the research and development phase here at Citrix. To get you started, here's a link to a description and demo of the SpeedScreen Progressive Display technology that was introduced in Presentation Server 4.5 to deliver graphics-intensive applications such as PACS and GIS: http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=163991 Derek

You might have already seen the announcement of Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 Feature Pack 1 and its

Hi Derek, We are very interested and look forward to seeing these new technologies. What client platforms are these new Multimedia Virtualisation features going to be supported on? We like many other customers would like to get rid of our installed base of FAT clients and replace them with 'real' Thin Clients. If these features are only going to be supported on the Win32 platform it is not going to work for us. Will it work on the WYSE Thin OS (V10L etc) or Linux based platforms? Brian

Reply to Brian (thorntonb): Hi Brian, The Multimedia Virtualization Initiative is definitely not limited to Win32 platforms. In fact, the major thin client vendors are part of our Multimedia Virtualization Initiative, too. They are innovating on top of ICA and ensuring that their thin clients (including non-Win32 platforms) are ready for the next generation of multimedia applications and desktops. Wyse's recent introduction of TCX Multimedia 2.0 is a good example of such innovation. Of course, the Multimedia Virtualization Initiative covers a lot of technologies (graphics, streaming media, video, VoIP...) and the enhancements being developed won't happen all at once and may not cover every version of the ICA client simultaneously. But I'll use this blog to keep you posted as we make progress and have more details to announce. There will be some amazing demos at iForum 07 in Las Vegas showing delivery of the graphics-rich Vista Aero desktop and video-game-like DirectX applications to thin clients, and the technology will support various non-Win32 platforms. Derek