macnn/ipodnn
11/14/2008, 3:55pm, EST
Friday, November 14th
Citrix promises remote Windows access for iPhone
Citrix will bring its XenDesktop and XenApp applications to the iPhone, the company has announced. XenApp is used to virtualize individual Windows programs such as Excel or SAP, which can then be run remotely in a client-server configuration; XenDesktop expands this concept to cover an entire XP or Vista system. For the iPhone the software will be mainly be tweaked to use multi-touch commands, such as pinching and panning.
Users should additionally be able to switch between portrait and landscape views, and Citrix says it is taking extra effort to support programs that normally require special key entries. In some cases the company is meeting with developers to ensure compatibility, and in the long term, it is working on tools to convert apps built with the likes of Visual Basic to the visual limitations of cellphones. The Xen software should be available "sooner rather than later," according to Citrix.
Filed under: iPhone, enterprise, networking, iPhone apps
Other story tags: virtualization, Citrix
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Nothing new!
VNC's been on iPhone (FREE) for ages, they're struggling to keep up, in my opinion. I can't live without it, hope to see what Citrix do, as it's a lot easier than memorizing IP's all the time.
VNC
Yup, it's just a long winded way of saying they are developing a VNC client for the iPhone.
There are already a number of VNC clients available.
Not VNC
Citrix XenApp and VNC function differenttly, plus they use a VERY different protocol. Citrix is for running an app on remote server securely while integrating with the local windows environment so that it seems as though its running locally. It uses ICA to accomplish this with very low bandwidth needs.
VNC is for controlling a desktop login session of a remote computer. It uses the extremely basic RFB protocol which takes up alot of bandwidth.
VNC=view Citrix=terminal
Citrix creates a virtual desktop environment for each connection on a server while VNC is simply a way of remotely viewing an existing desktop.