Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Yesterday at Citrix Synergy in Las Vegas, Citrix chief executive Kirill Tatarinov said the following:

“We will see some really incredible introduction of technologies as a result of this renewed partnership,” he said.

“Probably most exciting, we’ve been working together to enable XenDesktop VDI to help you deliver Windows 10 desktop as a service from Azure cloud.”

Strangely, most of the media didn’t pick up on that.  Perhaps they aren’t aware that Windows client OS has never been available in cloud-based virtual desktops… until now.

This means for the first time, via the partnership between Citrix & Microsoft, it will be soon possible to license, provision & deliver a full & complete Windows 10 virtual desktop experience to any Citrix receiver through Microsoft Azure & XenDesktop VDI.

(Note: Amazon Workspaces does not serve Windows client desktops. They serve Windows Server-based desktops with numerous caveats.)

Here’s more on this from Microsoft CVP Brad Anderson himself:

Also, here’s Brad Anderson via the Microsoft In The Cloud blog:

“Building out (and then maintaining) the infrastructure or farms for centralized apps and desktops can be really daunting.  Why not let Microsoft and Citrix do this for you?  This request has come up from a lot of our customers.  In fact, one of the most common requests has been for Citrix to offer managed services that Citrix maintains and operates.  Moving forward, Citrix will deliver “as-a-service solutions” hosted in Azure for all of their customers.

Also, later this year, Citrix will offer customers who have purchased Windows Software Assurance on a per-user basis the option to host their Windows 10 Enterprise Current Branch for Business images on Azure through its XenDesktop VDI solution. This will be an industry first!  This means you can deploy virtual apps or desktops and accelerate Windows 10 adoption for those customers who are using Microsoft Cloud solutions.“

• Microsoft and Citrix Partner to Help Customers Move to the Cloud
  https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/in_the_cloud/2016/05/24/microsoft-and-citrix-partner-to-help-customers-move-to-the-cloud/
• Video Recap: Big Announcements at Citrix Synergy 2016
  https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/in_the_cloud/2016/05/26/video-recap-big-announcements-at-citrix-synergy-2016/