Citrix has announced a new product capable of serving up connections to virtual machines and blade PCs, as well as traditional server-hosted desktop sessions. The software could help organisations to save up to 40 percent on desktop management costs by centralising desktops into the datacentre, Citrix said.

Citrix Desktop Server, due to ship in the second quarter of 2007, enables Windows PCs to be replaced by server-hosted virtual machines, blade PCs or Windows Terminal Services. Centralising this way provides the full Windows experience users expect while cutting the cost of managing physical desktops, which can be as high as £2,500 per user per year, according to Citrix.

The company unveiled similar technology at the Citrix iForum in 2006, but that product - Desktop Broker – was simply a stopgap product that added virtual machine support to Presentation Server.

"Desktop Server is a purpose-built desktop delivery product, while Desktop Broker was a 'statement of intent' for trying out virtual desktops," said Citrix business development manager Fraser Kyne. The new tool is more sophisticated and designed for dynamic desktop delivery tailored to user requirements, he added. Desktop Server is also licensed on a per-user basis and so is more cost-effective.

Desktop Server works with Terminal Services and VMware's virtual server software. User access is via Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), but a second version of the product due later this year will support Citrix's ICA protocol from end-to-end, Kyne said.

Citrix also announced an update of its NetScaler web application delivery appliance. Version 8.0 is the first in the industry to integrate a web application firewall with secure sockets layer (SSL) virtual private network (VPN) functions and an end-user monitoring package to support complex web applications. NetScaler 8.0 is available now through Citrix resellers, priced from £8,500 + VAT.