Citrix response

I've been meaning to post this for a while and haven't gotten to it..until today. Gavin had responded to my original post regarding Citrix and wondered of what benefit does it get you in the Small Business Server/Terminal Server arena. Well here goes:

1. You can just publish applications rather than an entire desktop. I know that with group policies you can truly restrict items but man it sure it nice to just have one application come up and not have to tweak anything. For a specialty app that one can easily run from anywhere in the world you just can't beat this functionality.

2. Web based front end. Citrix has done a great job of truly making the front end easy for the user. There is really nothing to configure if you strictly stay on board with their front end. I've worked with everything from nFuse on up and being able to just give the user a web page where it automatically downloads the client and they just click on the application they want to run is sweet. Citrix is all about lowering your administration overhead and this is to me one of those great features that does it.

3. Client support across the OS board. Sure I know that Linux has an RDP client out there somewhere but the support for all OS' and even PDA's are great with Citrix. Easy to configure and easy to maintain.

These to me are only a couple of the high points. Is Citrix right for every situation? Nope not at all. If you're just publishing desktops for use around the company then Terminal Services works just fine. But when you want to publish that finicky one app for all users at home and abroad then Citrix might just be your thing. Check it out and if you have other reasons you use Citrix then fire away! There's no question the gap between what Citrix and Terminal Services is getting closer but as long as Citrix keeps adding functionality and a solid support base they'll keep prospering in Microsoft's shadow.