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Citrix + Microsoft = VMware Nightmare

Citrix and Microsoft have a strange relationship, one of the few cases where the term "coopetition" actually applies. In the thin client space, the two have cooperated and competed for over a decade -- Microsoft with its low-end technology Terminal Services (now called Remote Desktop Services) bundled with Windows Servers, and Citrix with its higher-end Presentation Manager (now called XenApp). The companies are so close they even change names together!

The two firms edged even closer with the announcement of Citrix Essentials. The new software runs alongside Hyper-V and offers features Microsoft hasn't had time to build. The key hole is storage, and here Citrix comes to the rescue with StorageLink, which links SANs to virtual machines.

Posted by Doug Barney on February 25, 2009


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