Citrix Announces XenClient 2 and XenClient XT

Today at Citrix Synergy™, where virtual computing takes center stage, Citrix Systems officially unveiled Citrix XenClient™ 2, the second generation of its innovative bare-metal client hypervisor developed in collaboration with Intel, which allows centrally managed virtual desktops to run directly on corporate laptops, even when they are disconnected from the network. The new version of XenClient, which is available today as a technology preview, adds extensive new ease-of-use and scalability features, and will be certified to run on an estimated 45 million¹ PCs and laptops, more than three times that of previous versions. In addition to the new XenClient 2 announcement, Citrix also launched XenClient XT, a new standalone product that delivers advanced levels of security, isolation and performance for customers with the most extreme client computing requirements.

What’s New In XenClient 2

Expanded Hardware Compatibility – supports 3x as many laptops and PCs as previous versions, making it an ideal way to deliver virtual desktops “to go” on a broad selection of leading enterprise laptop brands and models. The new release also features support for the 2nd generation Intel® Core™ vPro™ platform, building on the existing support for Intel’s 2010 and 2009 enterprise platforms.
Expanded Graphics Support – expanded support for Intel® HD Graphics, available on 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ processors, and introduces support for discrete graphics architectures from AMD including the FirePro™ and Radeon™ series of GPUs.
Production-scale Synchronizer – helps customers deploy XenClient-enabled laptops across larger and more complex enterprise environments, while still managing all virtual desktops centrally, including full synchronization of user desktops, apps and data with the corporate datacenter.
Simplified User Experience – Combined with new enhancements to the Citrix Receiver software client, XenClient 2 users will enjoy a simpler, more responsive, more intuitive user experience.

Introducing XenClient XT

Extreme Desktop Isolation – XenClient XT augments the XenClient hypervisor with hardened components and a unique new network isolation architecture that allows users to run multiple securely isolated local virtual desktops in separate security domains and completely isolated networks, all on a single physical system.
Extreme Security – provides hardware-assisted security that leverages security capabilities in the Intel Core vPro platform. This includes a trusted boot capability powered by Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) to ensure that XenClient XT is checked against a known good configuration on every boot, ensuring no unauthorized modifications to the system.
Extreme Performance – capable of running the most graphically and computationally demanding desktop environments without compromise, while ensuring advanced security, isolation and performance.
Multi-level Desktop Consolidation – allows customers to run a large number of securely isolated desktop computing environments on a single physical system, especially useful for public sector customers who need to work on multiple sensitive contracts and projects simultaneously with full network and desktop isolation.

Why It Matters

Desktop virtualization is being widely adopted by both enterprises and government agencies as a more secure way to deliver desktops, apps and data to their employees, while improving security and agility with centralized desktop management. Citrix XenClient plays an integral role in this transition by enabling virtual desktops “to go” for millions of mobile workers, while simultaneously enabling fully isolated environments for advanced multi-client and high-security client computing use cases.

Supporting Quotes

Gordon Payne, senior vice president and general manager, Desktop Division at Citrix
“Desktop virtualization is helping organizations of all kinds transform desktop computing into a secure, on-demand service. XenClient extends the benefits of virtualization from the data center to physical PCs. With XenClient 2, we’re adding new levels of scalability and support for millions more laptop and PC models. And, by extending the product family with XenClient XT, we are taking this industry-leading technology to new areas like high-security desktop computing in the public sector, helping these organizations manage the costs and ensure the security and isolation of their desktop environments.”

Rick Echevarria, vice president, Intel Architecture Group and general manager, Business Client Platform Division
“The Synergy release of the XenClient 2 tech preview and announcement of the new Citrix XenClient XT product further illustrate Intel’s strong collaboration with Citrix. We have worked together to enable and optimize the XenClient 2 tech preview for the 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ vPro™ processor family. Our collaboration has produced an intelligent approach to desktop virtualization that delivers uncompromised performance, security, and manageability to IT and a great user experience for workers. XenClient was built from the start to utilize the powerful capabilities of Intel vPro technology. XenClient XT now takes it a step further by incorporating the additional hardware security benefits of Intel’s Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) to provide a verified platform on every boot. These innovations enable solutions delivered by Intel and Citrix with vPro and XenClient and our ecosystem to set a new bar for desktop virtualization.”

Chris Wolf, research VP, Gartner
"The client hypervisor has been an integral part of Gartner's virtual desktop and application delivery reference architecture for multiple years. Many of our clients see the bare-metal client hypervisor as not only core to their mobile user support strategy, but also essential for the complex office worker who has normally required multiple physical workstations due to various security, privacy, and regulatory compliance considerations."

Supporting Partner Blogs

Availability

XenClient 2 tech preview, which includes both XenClient and the Synchronizer for XenClient is available today for free download by any IT pro who wants to try the technology for up to 10 clients.
The new XenClient XT product will be available in June 2011.