Much like a satellite or cable TV receiver in a broadcast media service, Citrix Receiver allows IT organizations to deliver desktops and applications as an on-demand service to any device in any location with a rich “high-definition” experience. As long as employees have Citrix Receiver, IT no longer has to worry about whether they are delivering to a Mac at home a PC in the office, or an iPhone on the road, according to Gordon Payne, senior vice president and general manager, Delivery Systems Division, Citrix Systems.

Following an initial download and installation, Receiver sits in the background and “listens” for signals from the corporate “delivery center.” This allows IT to deliver any app or desktop from Citrix Delivery Center head-end controllers like Citrix® XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop, to any device with a Receiver installed. Should employees want to access their work environment from a Mac laptop or home PC, they go to a URL given to them by IT and download a Receiver for that device as well. As long as Citrix Receiver is installed on a device, IT has complete control over security, performance, and user experience, allowing them to deliver IT services on-demand with no need to manage, own or care about the physical device or its location.

Under the hood, Citrix Receiver is a lightweight universal software client with an extensible browser-like “plug-in” architecture. Receiver comes standard with a variety of optional plug-ins that communicate with head-end infrastructure in the Citrix Delivery Center product family such as XenApp, XenDesktop, Citrix Access Gateway and Branch Repeater. These plug-ins support functionality such as online and off-line app usage, virtual desktop delivery, secure access control, password management, app acceleration, multimedia acceleration, service-level monitoring and voice communications.

Administration is provided by Citrix Merchandising Server, a new server component that manages the initial setup of Receiver for employees, provides centralized management of plug-ins, keeps plug-ins updated on each end point, manages web-based user support services, and offers reporting features. Merchandising Server also includes tools for migrating existing Citrix customers from legacy implementations of Citrix software clients and user interfaces such as Citrix Program Neighborhood, PN Agent, and Web Interface.

To install Citrix Receiver users point their browser to a web site provided to them by their IT department and follow the step-by-step instructions. Once installed, Receiver is always up-to-date as the latest versions of client software and plug-ins are automatically pushed to all users from the Merchandising Server based upon the policies set-up by IT and preferences chosen by the user.

Citrix Receiver is free and is available immediately for any Windows-based device, including PCs, laptops, netbooks and thin clients. Citrix Receiver for Apple’s iPhone is also available immediately as a free download from the Apple App Store. Citrix Receiver for Mac OS X, Windows Mobile and Symbian OS will be offered on a when and if available basis. Citrix Merchandising Server is also available today at no charge. Both Receiver and Merchandising Server require infrastructure products from the Citrix Delivery Center product family to complete their operations.