Today at Citrix Synergy conference Citrix announced XenClient 2.1. This update includes a number of new product enhancements such as simplified Windows image management via dynamic layering for an easier, more reliable, and more cost effective way of managing updates, localization of XenClient for a more engaging and intuitive international experience, and an extension of the extreme security, isolation, and performance capabilities of XenClient XT edition to laptop systems.

Citrix XenClient 2.1 will be available in December 2011.

• SIMPLIFIED WINDOWS IMAGE MANAGEMENT with dynamic layering provides an easier, more reliable, and more cost effective way of managing system updates with minimal impact to end users and more control and agility for IT. Today, IT managers typically deploy an initial Windows image to employees who then often add their own applications and changes. This causes a mismatch from the originally deployed IT image and can introduce application conflicts and system incompatibilities which may lead to increased costs by triggering more helpdesk calls. The new dynamic layering feature in XenClient changes this paradigm by ensuring that IT defined images are enforced on a continual basis. This can greatly reduce helpdesk break/fix calls. With this new feature, an IT admin can now simply apply the changes they want to a single image in the datacenter and have it automatically sent out to their XenClient devices. This feature also reduces the risk of making changes to the desktop environment. If there are problems with an update, the dynamic Image Management capability can simply undo the change – something difficult to do today in traditional environments. This feature can also decrease disruptions and performance degradations to users during updates. Rather than experiencing an often lengthy local install process, changes are downloaded in the background and applied to the user’s system in the time it takes to reboot Windows. 
• XENCLIENT IS NOW LOCALIZED which allows end users around the globe to experience a more engaging and familiar experience when using the product. This release introduces client side support for German, French, Spanish, Japanese and Simplified Chinese languages.  Citrix has seen tremendous traction with XenClient in international markets and this reaffirms our commitment to delivering capabilities our customers require to expand their use of the solution on a global basis.
• XENCLIENT XT GOES MOBILE which extends the extreme security, isolation, and performance benefits of the XT edition of XenClient to laptop systems. The first release of XenClient XT was designed to deliver unmatched isolation on desktop systems for multi-level security use cases. This release extends those capabilities to laptops to allow untethered use of XenClient XT in both secure campus and in field environments.

Click here to learn more and to download XenClient 2.1