Citrix, whom internet legend holds helped develop the Windows kernel and knows their way around Microsoft’s OS like Ballmer knows a good monkey dance, have been talking iPhone client for a while, and it appears they’ve now made good on it.
Citrix Receiver [iTunes Link] is a FREE application that hooks into the Citrix XenApp and XenApp Web Services environment to let you access your Windows system remotely from the iPhone. Labeled as a 0.9 release “Technology Preview” it still purports real-time, anywhere (as long as you’re online) access to your apps and docs, and an high def HDX experience, including special mention of piping Flash and Silverlight websites over to your iPhone. And yes, your data is encrypted and stored back on your server-side, not the iPhone client.
So, anyone try this out yet? Is it the great experience Citrix has come to make us expect of them? How’s AutoCAD and IE 6 ActiveX working for you on the iPhone?
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Citrix has been warning… er… teasing Windows for the iPhone for a while now, but their blog (via Gizmodo) was recently updated to reflect some updates:
As we have announced here on the Citrix Blog ( still no Press Release though … ) we are actively developing a Citrix Receiver for the iPhone that will bring the world of millions of Windows apps and developers to the iPhone. As part of our testing and demonstrations we are looking for examples of compelling applications that will not run natively on the iPhone, however if the app was hosted on XenApp and delivered to the iPhone it would provide a great visual example of the power of Citrix and the iPhone.
They cite examples including IE-only apps (ActiveX?), Flash apps, medical apps, and cut and paste (?!)
While other remote desktop and VNC clients exist for the iPhone, Citrix comes from a background deep inside the Windows kernel and are thus unique situated to develop a killer solution.
So, anybody really want remote access to Windows on their iPhone, and if so, what do you want most from it?
Citrix, the folks behind Go To Meeting and Go To My PC — and if you believe the urban myth, a good portion of the Windows kernel — have just significantly harshened Steve Jobs’ mellow and sent yet another shudder down Tim Cook’s spine.
While VNC/Remote Desktop Apps have been available for the iPhone for a while (see Chad’s Jaadu vs. Mocha Showdown), a helpful Fortune Blog reader points us the differences in the Citrix solution:
“The Citrix client gives access to hosted applications on XenApp servers — allowing dozens to hundreds of users to access their applications remotely from a single system, with the very efficient Ctrix ICA display protocol.
One approach is for individual users — the other is for a cost-effective shared application delivery infrastructure.”
(Thanks to The Reptile for sending this in!)
Windows users love them their XP. No matter how prettier, more secure, and better architected — though admittedly heavier — Vista may be, the PR problems round Microsoft way have made it seem like every user is desperate to keep XP running on everything from their server farm to UMPC.
And now thanks to the folks at Citrix — who rumor has it know Windows at the they-contributed-towards-the-kernel level — could the iPhone be next?
Well, technically no. They’re not really getting XP to run on Apple’s handset, but they are enabling the same kind of remote wizardry they’ve been doing on the Windows side for years.
Using XenDesktop over WiFi, they accessed the aged OS via Citrix Server at the Application Delivery Conference in Melbourne as part of the Keynote.
Pundits and plain folk have been saying for a while now that the iPhone gives you a UNIX box in your pocket, and its nice to see some of that power being harnessed.
Could Go to Meeting be far behind?
