Citrix HDX Technology Brings High-Definition User Experience to Virtual Desktops and Applications

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS), the global leader in application delivery infrastructure, today unveiled Citrix® HDX™ technology for Citrix® XenDesktop™ and Citrix® XenApp™, a broad set of capabilities that provide users with the best “high-definition experience” for virtual desktops and applications. Citrix HDX technology builds on existing Citrix user experience innovations from the datacenter to the device, adding enhancements for multimedia, voice, video and 3D graphics. Additionally, HDX includes advanced “adaptive orchestration” technology that senses underlying capabilities in the datacenter, network and device, and dynamically optimizes performance across the end-to-end delivery system to fit each unique user scenario. This open, adaptive design also allows HDX-enabled products XenDesktop and XenApp to leverage the latest user experience innovations developed by third-party software, server, device and processor partners.

An Adaptive, Holistic Approach Is Needed

As virtual desktops and applications become mainstream in the enterprise, IT organizations are faced with the growing challenge of providing an experience for employees that is the same as a traditional PC with installed software. Some virtual desktop solutions take a narrow approach to this problem, relying on point technologies that work only under a limited set of conditions. Others take a proprietary approach, requiring specialized hardware and unnecessary system upgrades. Only Citrix HDX is designed to address problems in all parts of the IT infrastructure, from the datacenter to the device, adapting to changes in the environment by applying the best technologies for each unique user scenario.

Today’s announcement from Citrix is part of a far reaching vision to transform desktop computing through the power of virtualization, giving IT unprecedented simplicity, security and cost savings, while providing end users with an entirely new level of performance, personalization and freedom (see related strategy press release here). Citrix HDX technology advances this vision for all categories of virtual desktops and applications, using an open approach that leverages user experience enhancements from strategic partners like Microsoft, Intel, HP, Dell and Wyse.

“Next to driving down costs, user experience is a key requirement for the adoption of centralized virtual desktops and applications,” said Michael Rose, research analyst, IDC. “IT organizations need to take a holistic view of their IT infrastructure in order to achieve the kind of user experience necessary to make centralized virtual desktops and applications a main delivery mechanism. By leveraging the diverse assets in its product portfolio, Citrix’s HDX technology roadmap has taken this holistic view and looks to deliver on the promise of a truly high-definition experience.”

Advanced Optimization Technologies from Datacenter to Device

Citrix HDX for XenDesktop and XenApp includes a broad set of technologies designed to enable a high-definition user experience for virtual desktops and applications. HDX builds on existing technologies in the Citrix Delivery Center™ product family, extending them with new innovations for today’s media-rich user environments.

These technologies reside across the entire end-to-end delivery system. HDX in the datacenter is designed to leverage the processing power and scalability of servers to deliver advanced graphical and multimedia performance, regardless of the capabilities of the end point device. HDX on the network is designed to incorporate advanced optimization and acceleration capabilities such as the Citrix ICA® virtual delivery protocol and other third-party technologies to deliver a great user experience over any network, including high-latency, low-bandwidth environments. HDX at the device is designed to leverage the computing capacity of endpoint devices to enhance user experience in the most efficient way possible.

There are six categories of HDX technologies that work together in concert to provide the best experience for all user scenarios. Each of these six categories includes a broad range of new and existing technologies that extend throughout the Citrix Delivery Center product family.

• HDX MediaStream – Accelerates multimedia performance by sending compressed streams to endpoints and playing them locally.
• HDX RealTime – Enhances real-time communications using advanced bi-directional encoding and streaming technologies to ensure a no compromise end-user experience.
• HDX 3D – Optimizes the performance of everything from graphics-intensive 2D environments to advanced 3D geospatial applications using software and hardware based rendering in the datacenter and on the device.
• HDX Plug-n-Play – Enables simple connectivity for all local devices in a virtualized environment, including USB, multi-monitor, printers and user-installed peripherals.
• HDX Broadcast – Ensures reliable, high-performance acceleration of virtual desktops and applications over any network, including high-latency and low-bandwidth environments.
• HDX IntelliCache – Optimizes performance and network utilization for multiple users by caching bandwidth intensive data and graphics throughout the infrastructure and transparently delivering them as needed from the most efficient location.

Citrix has also designed its HDX framework to enable seamless interaction between these six areas with its innovative “adaptive orchestration” technology.

• HDX Adaptive Orchestration – Senses underlying capabilities in the datacenter, network and device, dynamically applying the best combination of Citrix HDX technologies to ensure a high-definition experience to meet each unique user scenario.

“HP continues to work with Citrix to enhance its comprehensive client virtualization portfolio and ensure customers enjoy the security, manageability and significant reduction in total cost of ownership required in today’s challenging economic climate,” said Roberto Moctezuma, vice president, Desktop Solutions Organization, HP. “Additionally, we believe in the importance of creating an optimal user experience, focusing our technology leadership on delivering the rich, high-definition performance end users expect with continued innovations like the powerful gt7725 thin client and blade client architectures with onboard graphics processing units, which will provide an ideal complement to the Citrix HDX technology."

“Wyse’s vision is to provide customers with all of the benefits of thin computing without compromises on the end-user experience,” according to Jeff McNaught, chief marketing officer for Wyse Technology. “Citrix shares this vision, and the integration of Wyse's high-performance thin client devices with XenDesktop and XenApp with HDX will deliver on our combined vision and provide a true high-definition experience.”

HDX Technology Availability

Multiple Citrix HDX technologies are available today in Citrix Delivery Center products such as XenDesktop and XenApp. These HDX capabilities are further enhanced in the new XenDesktop 3 release (see today’s announcement), as well as the new Citrix Branch Repeater™ 5 (see today’s announcement). Citrix plans to extend its leadership in this area throughout 2009 targeting new innovations across all HDX categories, with specific focus on real-time voice and video and 3D graphics. These enhancements are being designed to further leverage acceleration capabilities in third-party software, systems and processors.

About Citrix

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is the global leader and the most trusted name in Application Delivery Infrastructure. More than 215,000 organizations worldwide rely on Citrix to deliver any application to users anywhere with the best performance, highest security and lowest cost. Citrix customers include 100 percent of the Fortune 100 companies and 99 percent of the Fortune Global 500, as well as hundreds of thousands of small businesses and prosumers. Citrix has approximately 8,000 partners in more than 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2008 was $1.6 billion.

For Citrix Investors

This release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Those statements involve a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including risks associated with revenue growth and recognition of revenue, products, their development and distribution, product demand and pipeline, economic and competitive factors, the Company’s key strategic relationships, acquisition and related integration risks as well as other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Citrix assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein.

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