Arrived in Barcelona late last night, got up early after a few hours of sleep and now i am ready for todays CTP meeting. Great list of CTPs here this time, so am sure someone will most likely start a debate during the day.. so hopefully today will be awesome like usually.

Barcelona itself did not show itself from its nicest side today, raining when we got out of the hotel, but it seems to be getting better outside now, so hopefully we will see great spanish weather along with great technical sessions.

It will be super interesting of course the real action starts with the keynote on wednesday, and then onwards at the Citrix Synergy, but today is an all day CTP meeting under NDA and tomorrow is CTP meeting combined with a bit of Citrix Partner Summit, also under NDA.. but it will be good.

The venue and sessions here this time looks good, so just waiting to see what kind of great swag Citrix has come up with this time around.

/René Vester

I am thrilled to see that VMware has joined the scene and that Pubforum now delivers the best from both Citrix, Microsoft, VMware and supporting technologies. I think this Pubforum is going to be the best yet. Sadly i will not be able to go for personal reasons, but my thoughts will be in Dublin!

To register visit: http://www.pubforum.info/pubforum/REGISTER.aspx

And if you want to relive, or see how Pubforum has been in the past, be sure to visit the download section here: http://www.pubforum.info/pubforum/Downloads.aspx Most Sessions from previous Pubforums are uploaded in a spirit of openness and to allow the message of speakers and vendors to reach even more entusiasts and experts.

Have a good time at Pubforum Dublin 2011! If anyone is looking to go but are unsure about logistics or have other questions, feel free to contact me or Alex

/René Vester

/René Vester

The new Citrix Receiver can be downloaded from the the Apple AppStore and if you are already running the receiver a simple upgrade should be available. To list some of my favorite new features:

• OnScreen TrackPad, use the screen as a Trackpad to better support a “normal” application handling where Touch is not preferred
• International Keyboard Support.. yippie, we get our native letters.
• Support for Bluetooth keyboard
• Integration of Self-Service (what we used to know as the Dazzle Concept)
• And many other.

You can view all the new features and download the app from the appstore here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/citrix-receiver-for-ipad/id363501921?mt=8

This version makes the iPad much easier to adopt for the enterprises as it is both an enhancement to the user experience but also enables features like Bluetooth keyboard and the OnScreen Trackpad which brings the iPad even closer to the “Nirvana Device” which especially Citrites have spend a lot of time searching for. Wouldnt it be greater to work if you could do all your work from a device as slim, easy to carry quick to boot as the iPad.

Well it just took a step closer to delivering Nirvana with the 4.2.1 release.

The Team at Citrix has done a great job on this receiver, i hope this team is an inspiration when it comes to innovation and adaption of new user experience options, the team has done a great job. This is not to say the other teams at Citrix  has not done great things, but the innovation which Citrix has delivered around the iPhone and iPad is super impressive and Citrix truely enabled a couple of very non-business ready product lines to true business innovation devices. Good job guys!

If you want to get a bit of a view of some of the new features check this video from Citrix Synergy Berlin, Gus Pinto is demoing some of the new features in a very early version of this receiver  Citrix Receiver for iPad Demo in Berlin

Now get it, Have fun with it!

/René

P.S .. Now Mr. Gus Pinto, go home and get some sleep!

I am very happy that Synergy is a success in Europe and i hope it leads to more pan-european events just like Synergy. Where my frustration comes into the picture is with the fact that european partners and customers are now unable to attend and refered to a SynergyOnline concept which will bring a few keynotes and most popular sessions.

Normally a sold out event would just mean exactly that to me, a great success for the people doing the event and also for the participants, so why is it that i am irritated by this? Well yes, the reason this Citrix Synergy is such a huge success, in my oppinion can be contributed to the fact that Citrix has an extremely loyal network of distributors, partners and customers who are fully devoted to the strategy and the products. So when Mark Templeton goes on stage in Las Vegas and says “We are going to make a european event, full scale event, just like the one we have had in Las Vegas, and i hope you will all help us get people to attend”(essense of his words, not a direct quote) .. Well the european partners, distributors and customers start preparing. I think for several reasons:

• Bringing this to europe would save travel costs and make it easier to attend
• Making this a success would encourage Citrix to give the european event the same focus as the us-based.
• For distributors and Partners, making a european event like this sends a signal to customers that Citrix cares.

So.. what happend after the announcement from Mark Templeton in Las Vegas? Well the local Citrix offices started focusing on gathering people for the local event, participation from the local offices in europe at the San francisco event was almost nothing compared to earlier, and customers were told, wait! Berlin will be great! And who are the big liars now? The partners and distributors? Maybe we should not have suggested customers wait for Berlin, as i remember there were still available seating at the Synergy in San Francisco.

And Citrix, yes.. you should have known.. you could have prepared, you promised a fullscale event in Berlin, and booked room for like 50% more attendants than you have previously had at local German events..

Want alternatives?

Citrix has done a few things to help ease the pain on some of the people unable to get tickets for the real event, one of which is Synergy Online, more infomation can be found here: http://www.citrixsynergy.com/about/synergyonline.html

I will be blogging and tweeting from Synergy so stay tuned, if YOU are blogging from Synergy, let me know i will make a page with links to blogs from Synergy in Berlin.

And if you have the time and budget an alternative to get the information would be to attend Pubforum Berlin. Pubforum Berlin will be held right after Citrix Synergy in Berlin, and will be featuring sessions with “Best from Synergy” and some of the speakers from Synergy will also be present at Pubforum. For more information about Pubforum check www.pubforum.net . Pubforum is an Expert to Expert european event and there will be no sales sessions.

Under MSDN Microsoft has launched a new site called http://gps.cloudapp.net this site is awesome! The site will allow you to search for group policy settings, filter by Internet Explorer version, office version and others and browse by registry or by policy.

But this tool makes it much easier to find the right settings and apply them either with registry hacks or policy objects.

This is a quick example of a search on hide drives which is pretty commonly used but still..

There is not much more to it, but a great tool for sure, one of my new favorite online tools

The tools is naturally powered by Azure

One cool thing i want to bring to your attention is the fact that GeekSpeak is heavily available with this years Citrix Synergy. I like GeekSpeak and the format of being unfiltered sessions delivered by the most passionate to anyone who will listen.

GeekSpeak is available in 3 shapes this time:

• Geek Speak Tonight: The fan favorite that we ran at Synergy 09 returns, where a combination of Citrix Technology Professionals (CTPs) and CTOs lead discussions and debates on pre-determined topics, and the audience takes center stage and joins the conversation! This event will kick off Synergy on Tuesday, May 11 at 4:30 – 6:45 p.m., giving you a chance to begin the conference with a breath of fresh, unfiltered air. Refreshments will be served. Get there early to claim your seat!

• Geek Speak Track: Not your typical formal breakouts! These sessions are complete with open, unfiltered discussion on a variety of technical topics led by CTPs, Citrix CTOs, and other respected industry thought leaders. Held May 12-14 alongside the formal breakout sessions.

• Geek Speakeasy: Geek Speak Live! comes to the Solutions Expo Hall with a relaxed lounge format for conversational sessions, and a lab format for "bring your own laptop" sessions with industry leaders and technical experts from the community. So grab a snack and head over to the Geek Speakeasy for an action-packed set of sessions from May 11-13!

And the invitation was laid out by Laura Whalen like this:

Are you:

• Tired of dark, stuffy conference rooms where you can hear a pin drop?
• Interested in desktop virtualization, client hypervisors & cloud computing?
• Looking for uncut, unfiltered, and unprecedented discussion and debate?

Do you:

• Want to speak your technically focused mind, and all you need is a stage?
• Enjoy mixing it up with master discussionists of the IT universe?
• Write you name in binary code for fun & watch "The Matrix" for the 5th+ time, just because it’s on?

Time for GeekSpeak?

I for one will be there as much as i can.. its usually great, so if you are at Synergy og Summit, do go join the GeekSpeak sessions

For more information have a look at Laura Whalens blogpost here: http://community.citrix.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=141099044

Rene Vester

This is GREAT news, i think it is just what we need.. a hands-on lab with guided exercises to give everyone a better understanding of VDI and especially XenDesktop and the Hyper-V platform integration.

Personally i spend a lot of time working with companies on Proof of Concepts to decide whether or not Virtual Desktops deliver the value-add their company needs. I think this is virtual lab is a great innovation in the quest to spread understanding of both the several hyper-visors available and the concepts needed to build a viable Virtual Desktop proof of Concept.

Deciding whether or not Hypervisors A or B is the best platform for your organization may not be easily decided over this virtual lab, but i think it clearly shows what Hyper-V can offer in the aspect of a virtual desktop host. And let there be no doubt, when you are talking about virtual desktops, the cost of the hypervisor is a parameter.

Citrix XenDesktop to me is the best positioned Virtual Desktop broker in the market. This is from my point of view because of the close integration with the older brother Citrix XenApp, this integration makes it possible to spread your virtual desktops over a dynamic virtual desktop platform, and the much cheaper “shared virtual desktop” platform which Citrix XenApp delivers.

What i do not understand is why VMware has not tried to incorporate terminal services(now RDS) support in a much better way to help accommodate the users which does not need to have their own OS, and by that lowering the total cost of the deployment… but that’s just me.. i do not buy the hype, i did the math.. And if you do VDI without doing the math.. “Oh boy..”

To get more information on this new lab cooperation between Citrix and Microsoft have a look here: http://community.citrix.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=116033898

Click here to try out the lab: https://cmg.vlabcenter.com/default.aspx?moduleid=281742e3-2613-42da-bd58-2c3578f039b4

or watch the video here:

I guess i could put in a guide to solve the challenges here but i chose not to. Citrix and MS did a good job on guiding through the challenges and delivering a good lab to work in.. good job!

I Really wish we could see this from more virtualization vendors! this is the way to show off your product!

The class in Norway has already been filled however there are still a few available seats in Malmö Sweden.

Malmo, Sweden
Organiser: Viridisit
Date: 19.-23. of April, 2010
Location: Cornerstone, Malmö
Speakers: Shawn Bass
Register here: http://www.viridisit.se/index.php?page=77

I am super excited that there has been such a great support for the initiatives made to get a different form of workshop to scandinavia, and hope the workshop in Malmö will be filled as well having workshops and content differing from the official training courses allow unfiltered debate and knowledge sharing in my opinion.. and does it get better than this? hope i get a chance to visit the class in Malmö.

René Vester

Rene Vester