Announcing the New Citrix Receiver for Mac!

This blog was originally posted to http://blogs.citrix.com/author/benjaminb/ on August 26, 2011:

A few days ago Citrix released a new update to the popular Citrix Receiver client for the Macintosh. In addition to providing needed updates to support the latest features in Mac OS 10.7 Lion, the new Citrix Receiver client provides a rich set of new capabilities that will further enhance end user experience and performance. The new capabilities of Citrix Receiver for Mac 11.4 include:

• Secure remote access through both Citrix Access Gateway and Secure Gateway;
• Multi-monitor support
• Bi-directional audio support
• Support for Communicator and other audio playback
• Improved HDX video performance

We view Citrix Receiver for Mac 11.4 as an important but evolutionary step in providing the ultimate end user experience for Mac users accessing Citrix virtual computing infrastructure. We expect to even further enhance support in the near future.

While Apple and Macintosh users remain one of our most important constituents — and certainly the dramatic growth of the Macintosh user base in the last few years increases the importance of supporting the platform — we have had to make some difficult choices in how and where we provide support in distributing the Macintosh client. Citrix Receiver requires the highest levels of operating system and platform integration and access to insure security and performance. For example, one of our biggest challenges has been the further simplification of application access while insuring the strongest security and best end user experience. Unfortunately, as you may know, Apple App Store policies restrict the kind of applications to those with minimal OS-level interactions. This has created a gap between what we are allowed to deliver in Citrix Receiver via the Mac App Store versus what we want to deliver to provide the highest levels of security, performance and OS level integration. With the introduction of Citrix Receiver for Mac 11.4 we have decided to withdraw from the Apple Mac App Store and instead direct our Macintosh end users to download the Receiver client directly from our website. This decision only impacts the Apple Mac App Store and does not in any way reflect our commitment to the Macintosh platform or any other Apple distribution.

Now the best news: We have completely redesigned the Citrix Receiver website to make it easier to find, install and configure Receiver! You can find Citrix Receiver for Mac along with all the other platform distributions at CitrixReceiver.com or Citrix.com/Receiver.

Let us know what you think of the redesign and keep checking back for the latest news and client updates!

Today, More Than Ever, Citrix is the Right Choice for the iPad!

This blog originally posted to http://blogs.citrix.com/author/benjaminb/ on March 9, 2011:

Today VMware announced the availability of their very first View client for the industry leading Apple iPad™. That could be seen as a competitive shot at Citrix but I see it a different way entirely: VMware has just sent a strong message to their customers that Citrix and the XenDesktop solution is the best choice for virtual computing!

For over two years Citrix has been evangelizing and delivering on a vision that empowers IT to evolve into an applications and desktop service provider and frees end users from the shackles of a locked down corporate desktop in favor of choosing their own devices. An important component in the Citrix strategy is Citrix Receiver. Citrix Receiver is a freely downloadable software client that provides secure access to Citrix XenDesktop infrastructure from any device, anywhere. As part of this strategy, Citrix Receiver has natively supported the Apple iPhone for two years and the iPad since its introduction last year. In addition, Citrix customers have native Citrix Receiver support for Android devices – including support for the Android tablet distribution (Honeycomb) – RIM Blackberry smartphones, Windows mobile devices, and forthcoming webOS devices from HP and Chrome OS notebooks from Google. This is in addition to providing secure native support for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux support for desktops and thin clients.

Citrix Receiver provides a unique and easy-to-use interface for subscribing to desktops along with Windows applications and cloud-based SaaS apps all with an end users corporate credentials. In addition Citrix Receiver, already in use by millions of end users on today’s most popular devices, provides native touchscreen controls optimized for the capabilities of the particular platform including multitasking and touch screen enabling Windows apps on the iPad. The experience – simple, intuitive and consistent across the multiple devices – is one of the most important differentiators of the mature Citrix Receiver solution.

It’s important to remember that providing desktop access is only part of the end user challenge; secure access to Windows applications, data and cloud apps along with desktops provides the most powerful and comprehensive end user solution. The Citrix Receiver user interface includes an app store for subscribing to and accessing enterprise applications and desktops. By building an application store user experience, Citrix Receiver builds on a user interface that is already well known to consumers. This is particularly true for Apple’s end users who have downloaded over three billion apps from the iTunes app store.

Receiver is only part of the Citrix story. In addition to providing industry leading Virtual Desktop infrastructure – supporting all of the broadly adopted hypervisor technologies, including VMware’s ESX and Citrix XenServer – Citrix also provides the broadest range of virtual computing options for customers looking for more than just a server-hosted desktop. Citrix is the only one-stop solutions vendor for all models of application and desktop virtualization including application virtualization, streamed apps and desktops, and client side virtualization solutions.

Another critical part of the Citrix virtual computing solution is the Go-To suite of products including GoToMeeting, which has been available for nearly a year on the iPad, and the recently introduced GoToMyPC. As a matter of fact GoToMeeting is fully integrated in the Citrix Receiver for iPad distribution for the most optimal end user experience.

As IT and end users alike consider the impact of tablet computing devices on their application portability and mobility strategy there is only one vendor that seamlessly supports all mobile devices – smartphones, tablets and desktops – across all operating environments, with an optimized end user experience. Millions of end users have already downloaded Citrix Receiver!

At the end of the day, don’t take our word for it. Read about some of our happy customers for yourself:

Kaweah Delta Healthcare District (California) and Derby Schools (Kansas) both profiled on Citrix iPad At Work

Or hear from Chicago’s SNR Denton/Sonnenschein Law Firm directly on YouTube!

Significant Citrix Receiver for iOS milestones:

• Citrix Receiver for iPad was available on the iTunes App Store on Day One of the initial release of the iPad on April 3, 2010;
• Citrix Receiver for iPad has had nearly 500,000 downloads since April 2010, placing it in the top five free business apps available on the iPad.
• Citrix Receiver for iPhone was released in October 2008 and has generated more than 700,000 downloads since it was made available from Citrix in late 2008. As with the iPad Citrix Receiver is one of the top free business apps available in the iTunes App Store

Citrix Receiver will make webOS devices enterprise ready at launch!

This blog was originally posted to http://blogs.citrix.com/author/benjaminb/ on February 9, 2011:

Citrix will immediately enable webOS consumers with access to Windows apps

Today, Hewlett-Packard announced the first webOS powered tablet devices that are expected to launch later this spring. Citrix Receiver once again is planning to be there on Day 1 with a version of Citrix Receiver to support HP’s webOS powered tablet devices, just as we have been with all important mobile device (iPad, Galaxy Tab, Google Chrome laptops, etc.) and new distribution channels (Mac Store), over the past 18 months. Citrix Receiver is a lightweight software client that will turn any webOS device into a powerful business tool by providing secure Enterprise access business desktops and any Windows, Web or SaaS application. The immediate benefit for webOS consumers is that Citrix will make webOS devices enterprise-ready by securely delivering access to the existing ecosystem of Windows based apps: Citrix Receiver will instantly enable new webOS devices for the enterprise!

The latest proof point in our commitment to make every device enterprise ready

Citrix Receiver support for HP’s webOS represents another milestone in delivering on our vision to provide easy-to-use secure access to business desktops, apps and docs from any device. With the addition of Receiver on webOS powered devices, Citrix will add yet another mobile platform to the impressive list of platforms and devices already supported – including Citrix Receiver versions for Windows, Mac, Linux, Java, Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. Whether your preferred computing device is a PC, Mac, laptop, netbook, tablet or smartphone, Citrix makes you productive from anywhere on any device.

Citrix continues to deliver on its commitment to give consumers choice by embracing the consumerization of devices trend and making it easier than ever to empower the IT enterprise to say “YES” in letting employees access their enterprise apps using any device, anywhere to be more productive. Citrix and Citrix Receiver are enabling the “Bring Your Own Device” revolution. Simply stated, Citrix Receiver is a win-win for both consumers and IT!

Don’t forget about the Developer benefits!

With the introduction of webOS into the tablet fray the battle for developer mindshare will only get that much more difficult. As an ISV which mobile platforms will you prioritize? iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, webOS; so many to choose from? The benefit of the Citrix Receiver architecture is that Enterprise IT doesn’t need to make that decision. Deploy your Windows applications and let Citrix worry about the client!

Try it for yourself: two million downloads and counting…

Users have already shown their enthusiastic support for Citrix Receiver with over two million downloads, making it one of the world’s most popular free business apps. As I noted in a blog posting a couple of weeks ago, as the number one free business app since Day 1 on the recently launched Mac App Store is just the latest example of the overwhelming market acceptance of Citrix Receiver over the past 18 months. If you haven’t experienced Citrix Receiver, we would invite you to take a test drive on your favorite device via a Citrix hosted cloud demo and you will be up and running in minutes. As always, we would love to know about your experiences and to share how Citrix Receiver fits with your virtual workstyle.

Citrix Receiver Delivers as Advertised!

This blog was originally posted to http://blogs.citrix.com/author/benjaminb/ on February 7, 2011:

I think everyone in some way, shape or form, has, at one time or another, been accused of “drinking the kool-aide.” Certainly that’s true for marketing people. After all in order to be the best marketing person you should believe what you’re selling. On the other hand I know that there is a very fine line between believing what you’re selling and believing your own spin.

It’s for this reason that I thought it worthy to point out that Citrix Receiver isn’t a solution spun up in the last few months as a fancy user interface on top of an old ICA client. It is so much more than that (and, certainly, it’s a solution that has evolved over years of development)! So, with that said, it’s nice to see product coverage from someone who isn’t drinking the kool-aide highlight all the great benefits of the solution.

You can read the review here:

A Week of Productivity With the Galaxy Tab

In his review, Matt Coddington describes the Galaxy Tab / Citrix Receiver experience in exactly the way we see it (and built it). It’s certainly heartening to know that while I may have more enthusiasm for Receiver than many people, it delivers again and again the end user experience as advertised!

Citrix Receiver is Number One!

This blog was originally posted to http://blogs.citrix.com/author/benjaminb/ on January 21, 2011:

I am honored, with my first blog post at Citrix, to be able to write about some very good news: The newest version of Citrix Receiver for Macintosh, released on January 7th to correspond with the launch of the new Macintosh App Store, is the number one free business application download! Released just a couple of weeks ago, Citrix Receiver for the Macintosh has been downloaded over 20,000 times and has been profiled by Apple in the App Store as the premiere software solution for accessing Windows-based enterprise business applications securely on a Macintosh.

This is very exciting news for Citrix, the Citrix customer community and Macintosh users worldwide. With Citrix Receiver we have designed and delivered the most robust cross-platform tools for easy and secure access to enterprise infrastructure. For an end user the value is obvious: you can access your workplace applications, files and data from anywhere! (And by anywhere we truly mean from anywhere: your Mac, your PC, your iPhone or iPad, or Droid or Blackberry. Citrix provides the broadest device support in the industry and our commitment to you is to continue to broaden support to include virtually any end user computing device!)

For IT the Value is Even Greater!

Citrix Receiver provides a single software download that supports their existing enterprise infrastructure without any of the challenges of writing or supporting device specific code. Heck, for that matter, Citrix Receiver frees IT admins from having to uniquely support any end user device including PCs, tablets, mobile phones or anything else device manufacturers think up in the future.

Another interesting tidbit from the download data from the Mac App Store is that over 50% of the Citrix Receiver for Mac downloads has come from outside the United States. Citrix Receiver and XenDesktop infrastructure have gone global. The success of mainstream virtualization will hinge on worldwide deployments and adoption. Based on the initial Receiver download data, Citrix is having tremendous success in globally rolling out a new way of thinking about where and how people gain access to work resources and how they work. Clearly the desktop revolution has begun…

Oh, and you can download Citrix Receiver for the Mac from the App Store today!