Wyse Technology hopes to take thin computing to the masses with its new Viance Desktop Appliance for Citrix XenDesktop.
“With XenDesktop, the pendulum has moved toward bringing desktop virtualization to a broader audience,” said Ricardo Antuna, vice-president of business development and alliances. “Task workers doing repetitive tasks with limited use of the desktop environment were the people who traditionally used thin clients. But now they can be used by knowledge workers both in the office and mobile.”
The Viance Desktop Appliance for Citrix XenDesktop is the first product to meet the “Plus” specifications of the Citrix Ready Desktop Appliance Program, and includes a Citrix Desktop receiver embedded in the device. Wyse claims the device does not use much power: it is low-power, fan-less, and diskless as well. Said Antuna: “With no moving parts, it significantly increases its lifespan, and reduces noise.” It can boot in under ten seconds, according to Antuna.
Wyse Viance Desktop Appliance for Citrix XenDesktop also aims to reduce IT staff headaches with its no-muss-no-fuss administration settings. “Virtualization overcomes all that,” said Antuna. “You can use it out of the box, and reduce the need for user tinkering.” This will especially come in handy, he said, for the smaller businesses with limited IT staff and budget, or those with branch offices with no IT staff and workers who need to get their desktop working right away.
Thin clients can get a bad rap for their lack of bells and whistles, but Wyse was determined to slap on some multimedia capability. The device includes digital and video output, USB ports, Ethernet support and support for dual displays.
Entry-level pricing starts at US$399.