Citrix announces XenApp 7.8 and XenDesktop 7.8
Citrix announces the upcoming availability of XenApp 7.8 and XenDesktop 7.8! XenApp 7.8 and XenDesktop 7.8 is focused on enhancing application management and delivery, optimizing the user experience with new features both server side and user side with AppDisks and HDX enhancements.
Remember all the features and functionality of 7.7 are also incorporated into 7.8, making the pending XenApp and XenDesktop 7.8 release the most feature-rich release of XenApp and XenDesktop on the FlexCast Management Architecture to date. This release is focused on enhancing application management and delivery, optimizing the user experience while increasing server scalability and extending the flexibility of the architecture to be more robust based on vertical and user needs.
AppDNA for AppDisk
New AppDisk technology, which will be part of the Q1 2016 release of XenApp and XenDesktop 7.8, will allow administrators to package and manage applications independent of their master desktop and server OS image. As a result reducing the number of golden images to manage, and making it easier to install or update applications. This is exciting technology that can save a lot of effort in managing images, and the best part is … AppDisk will be included in ALL editions of XenApp and XenDesktop! So what’s in it for customers of Platinum edition? The Platinum edition lets you use AppDNA—directly in the Studio console—to validate and remediate app compatibility issues within an AppDisk layer, between AppDisk layers, and with the master image OS underlying any number of AppDisk layers. The app analytics can help save as much as 90% of the time spent on validating and re-validating applications and layers.
I have been playing with AppDisk and AppDNA for some months, and this is a game changer when it comes to deploying and streamlining apps. It also puts a great value to XenApp / XenDesktop Platinum edition! – Alexander Ervik Johnsen.
Here is what’s new with the 7.8 release of XenApp and XenDesktop:
- Simplifying app management by layering apps onto a master OS image with AppDisk. New AppDisk technology allows admins to package and manage applications independent of their master OS image alleviating the management complexity of multiple, departmental-based images. AppDisk makes it easy to install or update applications without impacting the golden desktop or server image.
- Integrated AppDNA compatibility testing for applications layered with AppDisk. AppDNA extends the layering benefits of AppDisk by providing instant application compatibility reporting and layer reordering for assigned AppDisks. Now an admin will be able to validate and remediate any OS or inter-app compatibility issues before distributing the AppDisk applications to their employees.
- Seamlessly manage Microsoft App-V packages from the Studio admin console. XenApp and XenDesktop admins may now use Citrix Studio to manage the distribution of App-V applications to virtual desktops or XenApp servers without requiring separate App-V server and database infrastructure simplifying administrative processes and eliminating additional infrastructure costs.
- Improved app publishing experience. Large enterprises manage hundreds of applications across thousands of servers. The newly improved Studio has a more intuitive user interface for app publishing as well as new features that enable the admin to publish apps to multiple delivery groups, improved tag management for easier management and tracking across machines, apps and delivery groups.
- Enhanced graphics performance for virtual desktops. Optimizing the graphics performance for virtual desktops is critical to adoption and this release brings even more enhancements including the combination of our innovative Framehawk display technology with our high performance HDX 3D Pro graphics acceleration for Windows 7 and 8 virtual desktops.
- Higher scalability for innovative Framehawk technology. Newly released Framehawk remote display technology provides a brilliant user experience under very challenging network conditions and provides real-time interactivity on networks where packet losses impair performance. This release brings scalability enhancements that enable over 40% reduction in memory footprint, up to 20% increase in CPU efficiency, and over 50% improvement in bandwidth efficiency when scrolling via touch input, as well as a significantly increased frame rate for a smoother user experience.
- And more … Just to give you a few: the ability to record virtual desktops sessions using Session Recording for VDI to pinpoint and speed troubleshooting; enhancements to Citrix StoreFront like self-service password reset; and vertical specific enhancements like passing through the client name to published apps, which is very important for healthcare administrators.
Citrix says that the XenApp 7.8 and XenDesktop 7.8 version will be available in Q1 2016! Stay tuned for an in depth review, right here on ervik.as!