Citrix Turbocharges Virtual Desktop with HDX Nitro

SAN FRANCISCO—Citrix Systems on May 12 demonstrated a beefed-up version of its bread-and-butter desktop "user experience" software, HDX, a key ingredient in the XenDesktop for Windows 7.

The announcement was made at the company's Synergy conference here at Moscone Center.

Dubbed HDX Nitro, the improved virtualization software is designed to turbocharge all aspects of virtual computing, a Citrix spokesperson told eWEEK.

Latency has always been the Achilles' heel of virtual desktops, and now that annoyance may be well on its way to being solved.

Citrix said in HDX Nitro it has added code improvements that enable instant-on applications, faster rendering of images on screen and a "sense and respond" feature that speeds up each user's connection based on the capabilities of his or her device and the speed of the current network connection.

Citrix also claimed that with these internal augmentations, HDX Nitro will provide faster printing—while using only 10 percent of the bandwidth usually consumed by a desktop or laptop computer for printing.

These improvements affect the entire data chain within enterprise networks, from application and Web servers in data centers through all networks to on-site clients, Citrix said.

HDX Nitro's "smart" function anticipates a person's pattern of application use and readies the hypervisor for it.

Citrix said it wants HDX Nitro to be smart enough to collect usage data, factor in all relevant variables and gauge everything from network conditions to the device type, then automatically select the fastest and most efficient path for display and execution of content, the spokesperson said.

Citrix wasn't specific about when the HDX Nitro improvements will get into the XenDesktop, only saying they are planned "for upcoming releases."