Citrix, Wyse Partner for Zero Client

Citrix and Wyse are looking to push the zero-client into the mainstream. Once upon a time it was a computer on every desk, now it’s a zero-client on every desk. The offering uses Wyse’s Xenith hardware and Citrix’s HDX technology. Here are the deeper details.

The effort surfaced at this week’s Citrix Synergy conference in San Francisco, which attracted virtualization, cloud and networking pundits. Sounds like an ideal place to announce “the industry’s first zero client with Citrix HDX technology.”

But is the news a big deal? Well, apparently, HDX technology eliminates management and security issues with “traditional” client devices. Plus, you get the Citrix guarantee that you’ll have a HDX or “high-definition” user experience. The idea is to make this simple, easy, and efficient to “lower the barrier’s for mainstream adoption.”

For Wyse, and Citrix, simplicity is the name of the game. Xenith, paired with Citrix HDX requires no local configuration and essentially, auto-discovers XenDesktop out of the box and boots Windows in seconds. The two companies claim the Zero Client offers:

• Zero configuration. No OS means no prior configuration needed or patching in the future.
• Zero delays. No OS means boot time is instantaneous. Desktop on demand.
• Zero viruses. “Malware is designed to attack operating systems and applications. Since Wyse Xenith has no operating system, the attack surface for malware is virtually eliminated.” (That doesn’t really rule out the issue of viruses compromising your VM, but it does eliminate the need to worry about hardware issues as a result of a virus.)
• Zero compromises in user experience. Wyse Xenith’s ‘native’ support for Citrix HDX means fast and easy user experience.
• Simple Plug-n-Display with Citrix HDX. (Like mentioned above, out of the box on and working with XenDesktop)

Want to get your hands on one now? Be on the look out in June of 2010 or check it out here.

Meanwhile, here’s some perspective: While virtual desktops / zero clients clearly are a trend for the future, it’s clear there’s a price issue attached. Even by ‘lowering the barrier of entry’ (does that mean price or usability?) it’s clear that the upfront costs of swapping an entire enterprise over to a virtualized system seems pretty costly.

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