One hour before starting a joint webcast with Citrix about its new virtualization strategy for desktops, Microsoft briefly announces a number of new initiatives, upcoming technologies and licensing changes.
About hosted desktop virtualization:
- The Windows XP SP3 virtual machine that can be run on Windows 7 Virtual PC, called XP Mode, will no longer require hardware virtualization to be executed.
This is probably the best way Microsoft found to solve the problems that Sony created to many customers with its shortsighted strategy.The new version is available now as a hotfix.
About bare-metal server virtualization:
- Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 will introduce a memory overcommit technique for Hyper-V R2 called Dynamic Memory.
The news leaked at the beginning of February.
About VDI:
- The remote desktop acceleration technology acquired by Calista in January 2008, now renamed as RemoteFX, will arrive with Windows Server R2 Service Pack 1 and will be integrated in Remote Desktop Services (RDS).
RemoteFX can be considered an accelerator for RDP over the LAN for Windows 7 SP1 clients only. - Beginning July 1, 2010, Windows Client Software Assurance (SA) will include the VECD license for free.
Customers that don’t wont to subscribe the SA will be able to buy a new Virtual Desktop Access (VDA) license: $100 /device/year instead of $110 of the VECD. - Beginning July 1, 2010, Windows Client Software Assurance (SA) and new Virtual Desktop Access (VDA) license customers will have the right to access their virtual desktop and Office applications inside it on secondary, non-corporate network devices, such as home PCs and kiosks.
- Microsoft and Citrix signed a new technology agreement to integrate and extend Microsoft RemoteFX with Citrix HDX.
- Microsoft and Citrix launched a joint trade-in program dubbed “Rescue for VMware VDI”, offering up to 500 licenses to VMware View customers at no additional cost, and offering to new customers a 70% discount on Microsoft VDI Standard Suite subscription license and a 50% discount on Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition annual license ($28 per device for up to 250 devices for one year).
Update: Brian Madden just published a video of RemoteFX in action.