Citrix shows off Presentation Server on 64-bit Windows

Citrix engineers demonstrated a version of Presentation Server that can run on 64-bit Windows in the Tech Lab at iForum in Edinburgh, Scotland, this week.

This it is NOT a 64-bit version of Presentation Server. Instead it's the 32-bit Presentation Server that is being modified as needed to function on 64-bit Windows. (The current 32-bit version of Presentation Server will not run on 64-bit Windows.) So this means that the product will be Presentation Server for 64-bit Windows, NOT 64-bit Presentation Server. (If you're confused on this, read what I wrote about how the new hybrid 64-bit architectures work.)

There are some 64-bit components (such as the DLL memory address rebasing), but the base code will be 32-bit for now.

There is no word on the release date yet. The "official" roadmap from Citrix lists this as being released in the second half of 2005.

There were actually several vendors that were starting to get on the 64-bit bandwagon at iForum. ThinPrint announced a native 64-bit version of their product that works on 64-bit Windows (with or without Presentation Server). This is actually pretty important because 64-bit Windows cannot use 32-bit printer drivers, so consequently there aren't too many printer drivers for 64-bit Windows right now. The 64-bit version of ThinPrint will allow 64-bit Terminal Servers to print to almost any printer on a 32-bit client.