Citrix have just posted the second release candidate of XenClient and the Synchronizer for XenClient to the web. Some of the key advancements are:
Windows 7 x64
This was one of the top requests as Citrix are seeing about a 50/50 split with customer deployments of Windows 7 between 32bit and 64bit. The Xen virtualisation technology Citrix use in XenClient is 64bit so adding this support was really a matter of porting the graphics, USB, and other supporting drivers over to 64bit. The storage and networking drivers were already 64bit ready courtesy of the XenServer group.
Improved USB
Another top request was improvements to USB device support. So Citrix spent a lot of time making major improvements to the USB support in XenClient. This includes support for integrated USB devices such as webcams and fingerprint readers. Also Citrix built a new user interface for routing USB devices between VMs and setting up persistent connections between VMs and USB devices. At this point most USB devices should work with the platform.
Citrix have added support for the following devices:
- Apple iPod, iPhone, iPad
- Microsoft Windows Phones
- Android Phones
- Headsets
- Fingerprint Readers
- Webcams
- Smart Card Readers
- 3G data modems.
Bluetooth
With the new improved USB support comes support for a variety of Bluetooth devices. On most systems in the HCL the Bluetooth system is actually a USB device that can be assigned to a virtual machine. This allows that virtual machine to talk to your Bluetooth devices.
Usability Enhancements
Citrix have spent a lot of time on incorporating usability feedback into this release and these are some of the ones that stand out.
Simplified VM upload and download process
Citrix removed combined steps and even removed a number of steps to make the process of uploading a VM image to a Synchronizer simple. Citrix also removed the duplicate publish VMs that were cluttering the UI.
Improved display of upload/download progress
Along with enhancements to the actual upload and download process Citrix enhanced the display of upload and download progress information and now include this information on the main Receiver for XenClient UI.
In VM alerting system
Citrix have a brand new in VM alerting system that will make sure users are aware of critical issues affecting the system such as low disk space, policy actions, or impending lease time expiries. Previously this type of information was only available in the Receiver for XenClient UI.
Automatic slipstream of Intel Graphics drivers
XenClient has some great 3D graphics support that lets a virtual machine have direct access to the Intel graphics system for a native graphics experience. Now in this release Citrix automatically slipstream the Intel graphics drivers into most versions of Windows. So you can flip on the 3D graphics feature and be ready to go without having to download any drivers.
Intel Extended Page Tables support
In this release Citrix added support for hardware acceleration of virtual memory operations for increased memory performance. In the past the Xen hypervisor Citrix use in XenClient did an admirable job of page table virtualisation but nothing beats hardware assist and this will give Citrix an extra boost in overall performance for memory operations.
Secure Application Sharing
Citrix made a large number of enhancements to the secure application sharing feature to make it easier to use and provide helpful guidance if a publishing VM is not active. Below are a list of some of the enhancements that have been made:
- Automatic resolution changes when attaching a projector or external monitor
- Notifications if the publishing VM is alseep or powered off
- Ability to adjust thickness and color of secure shared application windows
- Blacklisting of non-essential Windows utilities and built-in apps
Expanded hardware compatibility
This was also a big area of feedback from RC1 and over the next few releases you will see a big increase in the number of systems and peripherals Citrix support.
Added support for the following laptops:
- HP EliteBook 2540p
- Dell Latitude E4310
- Dell Latitude E4200
Added support for the following desktop:
- HP Compaq 8000 Elite
Added support for the following wireless adapters:
- Support for Dell Wireless™ 1501 adapters
- Support for Dell Wireless™ 1520 adapters
- Support for Intel 5150 Wireless adapters (WiFi Only)
- Support for Intel 6250 Wireless adapters (WiFi Only)
- Support for Broadcom 4312G Wireless adapters
- Support for Broadcom 4322AGN Wireless adapters.