What products does Citrix make now? (Spring 2008 edition)

I would rather prefer Citrix try and fix their already broken products (4.5 x64 namely) rather than see them buy another company or release delaware.  Not to mention has anyone seen what has happened to Presentation Server 4.0 for Windows 2003 on Citrix.com?  If anyone can find it under the list of products under Knowledge Center please post a reply.

To clarify .... Presentation Server 4.0 for Windows 2003 x64 on Knowledge Center

Wasn't there some others?

They bought some company(Sequioa???) for the Portal part of Web Interface (eventually called it MSAM) for some portal plugins. Don't know what has happened to that.

The Citrix Secure Gateway is still there too (and still supported, I think). The idea came from a customer that tunnelled ICA over 80/443 was my understanding

In your opinion, what is broken in 4.5 x64?

end-of-lifed some time ago?  Why was there a link to the product only two weeks ago, and why release a hotfix on the 9/01/2008?  see http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX115611

Can anyone confirm MPS 4.0 for Windows 2003 x64 is know no longer supported?

Recently built a 4.5 environment for 2003 x64 but had to roll back to 4.0 x64 due to a number of issues confirmed by Citrix  - had a support case opened with them regarding 4 critical issues.  All I got were two work-arounds and two acknowledgements of issues but no fixes.

See http://support.citrix.com/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=138 and view the posts regarding explorer exceptions, in my case this was apparently linked to the windows hooking that Citrix performs.  I have not seen any hotfixes released since that addressed this issue or any of my other ones.

4.5 for x64 just was stable after R01, though R01 is needed to fix a number of bluescreens we encountered - damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

Also in regard to above it seems MPS 4.0 (i assume x86 and x64) was scheduled for end of line December 2009, so in that case where is the link to MPS 4.0 under http://support.citrix.com/product/?

I haven't heard much about this in the past few months, but I believe they're still selling Citrix Access Essentials 2.0.

Hate to be picky, but you guys are confusing the newbie here <g>!  It's really hard to follow the convo when everyone is named Guest - maybe y'all could log in when you post?  Thanks, dudes!

Hello,

 It looks like you are clearly out of touch on the differences between the Netscaler and the Access Gateway. I have just implemented both and am in the process of consolidating to the Netscalers. Comparing the two is comparing Apples to Oranges in terms of overall functionality and thus the reason for the slightly higher price tag. Depending on the services you wish to acheive through the CAG Enterprise edition, there may not be much of a price difference at all. Especially if you are running PS 4.5 EE.

There is some blur between the Access Gateway and NetScaler product lines. The Access Gateway Enterprise Edition is built atop the NetScaler platform to allow for better performance and scalability in an enterprise environment. The SSL-VPN and ICA-Proxy functionality availably on the NetScaler are provided by the integrated Access Gateway code. So to simplify both the Access Gateway Enterprise Edition and the NetScaler SSL VPN component are the one in the same utilizing the exact same hardware appliance. If your organization requires both the feature set of the NetScaler (outside of SSL-VPN/ICA-Proxy) and the Access Gateway Enterprise Edition you can do both with a single appliance licensed as a NetScaler. If the only functionality required is that of SSL-VPN/ICA-Proxy then an Access Gateway Enterprise would be the product to use.

XenApp (Presentation Server) 4.0 is still supported. End-of-Maintenance is June 30, 2009 with End-of-Life scheduled for December 30, 2009. The product support matrix can be found at the Citrix web site under "Support>Product Life Cycles>Product Matrix Table". I just confirmed that it is still searchable on the Citrix support web site. Browse to http://support.citrix.com, expand "Presentation Server" and select "Presentation Server 4.0 and Components" form the navigation bar on the left.

Development on the Secure Gateway software product has stopped but it is still supported, current version 3.0. The feature set has been enhanced and rolled into the Access Gateway product line. The support status of this product can be found on the Citrix web site under "Support>Product Lifecycle Support>Non-Sale Products". A non-sale product refers to the fact that it is bundled with another product, usually XenApp (Presentation Server).

The basic citrix thing, xenapp,whatever it's called nowdas bundled with the age old secure gateway is still useful.
GoToMeeting and GoToAssist also have their merit.
Still, I'm having a hard time justifying the 4.5 release and as when the shift comes to Windows 2008 I think Citrix no longer provides any real value. The classical SBC market is no longer owned by Citrix.... And don't get me started with the other XEN crap nor application virtualization - Citrix is the last choice. 

From my understanding one of the main drivers for 4.5 was that the code base for PS 4 for x86 and x64 was different and this caused a stack of headaches for Citrix at the time. 4.5 fixed this as they now have the same code base, just different compilers.  I know this is grossly over simplifying it but I am no developer :)

Citrix still provides real value in Windows Server 2008 depending what you want and what your client (if you are in an outsourced model) requires.  You can not give a blanket scenario and say it is good for nothing.  However what I will agree with is that with 2008 Microsoft will have functionality and your end users/clients may not have to buy an add on product where in 2003 they had to.  And in honesty I think this is a good thing.

I fail to see how anyone who has tried deploying 2008 TS in an Enterprise can say that " Citrix no longer provides any real value".  Below is a list of things off the top of my head that are problems with any large or complex 2008 TS deployment:

• Apps displayed in TSWEB are the same for all users, regardless of whether users are permitted to launch the app.
• Web client will only exist for XP SP3 and Vista SP1
• No concept of application silos, and basic (although better than nothing) load balancing
• Absolutely no centralized management
• No logging of application usage
• Requires all components (except AD) to use 2008
• Requires 2008 TSCALs and Windows CALs
• Universal Printer Driver only for XP SP3 and Vista SP1 (when released)
• No delegated administration
• No virtual channel bandwidth policies (although there is some weighting that can be applied)
• No Content Redirection
• No desktop integrated client
• ICA still outperforms RDP that hasn't been extended with 3rd party tools.

Don't get me wrong, 2008 TS is much better than the baseline 2003 TS offering, but it is still just a platform to be extended by companies like Citrix, Provision Networks, Ericom, 2x... except for clients with the most basic deployments, i.e. no "one off" requirements.

Patrick,

I definitely agree that Citrix / Provision / Ericom add value on top of Microsoft TS. However it is worthwhile to note that some of the limitations you list are addressed by Ericom's free add-on to Windows Server 2008. These include:

• Centralized management
• Personalised web interface
• Desktop integrated client
• Logging of application usage
• URL redirection

You can learn more about it at the joint Microsoft / Ericom TechNet Webcast.

I agree with everything Patrick and you said ,but marketing your product and webcast... ouch! tsc tsc tsc...

Again if the problem is TS 2008 on the enterprise and lack of features then your free product doesn't fit the picture. Please don't get me wrong, Ericom has good enterprise products, but the free one is more like a.... hun... let me think.... oh the word is "BAIT".

Ericom does not claim to be a philanthropic organization nor, for example, is Brian Madden who provides us with this great free web site but makes money from advertisements or his courses which he promotes here. The same is true regarding free offerings from companies such as Google or Microsoft. I don't think this is a bad thing. Our free offering provides value on top Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services. If it's good enough for you then great - you got something for nothing. If not then you can always go with a commercial product from Citrix or Provision or Ericom.

Also, please note that the site I linked to is Microsoft TechNet, not Ericom.

I believe one of the things you all are missing here is the simple fact that due to contractual agreements between Citr, MS cannot offer the level of pieces that Citrix does.  It is that simple.  MS has to stop at a certain point, so as to not overrun their boundaries.  Were the boundaries lifted, MS would come up with these pieces as well.   The Ericom piece is interesting.  Have to check further into that.

LOL, internally Citrix has all but given up on doing any improvements to Presentation Server since Microsoft will eventually be killing them.  Internally, majority of engineering is pretty unhappy and just wants to quit if most haven't already.  Citrix is just trying to buy companies until something can actually make money and replace Presentation Server without having to do any engineering.

If you believe that Microsoft isn't taking the key features of Citirx and putting them directly into the product with each release until Citrix is unnessecary (because Citrix isn't adding anything useful anymore), you're an idiot.

There are no boundaries, the only boundaries are in your head.  Citrix is scared.  If you beleive there are boundaries of what Citirx has said Microsoft Giant isn't allowed to do and Microsoft would agree to sign such a contract, please enlighten us.  It's the other way around, Citrix needs Microsoft to be able to extend TS, Microsoft does not need Citrix.