VMware recently announced an upgrade to its virtual desktop management product, VMware View 4.6. This new version includes well awaited features and enhancements such as the following:
- USB device compatibility enhancements
- Enhance keyboard mapping
- New and improved timeout settings for SSO users
- Important bug fixes that continue to improve the performance and robustness of the product
- Support for Win 7 SP1 RC (experimental)
- PCoIP Security Server
Probably the biggest competitive addition is PCoIP Security Server, which allows you to use PCoIP over the WAN without the need for a VPN connection. PC Over IP, or "PCoIP" is a remote graphics protocol that I first saw in early 2007 from Teradici and IBM. The technology was originally designed to allow all of the robust commands from a blade workstation to be compressed and "pixilated" to be sent over IP to an end device, like a thin client, where the compressed data would be decompressed offering the thin client user a full, rich, desktop-like experience. This is an ideal protocol for heavier graphics needs like videos or CAD environments. The original PCoIP required special adapters on both the host and the end device. Fast forward a few years and we see that PCoIP is now available as a software offering, and is a key part of VMware's virtual desktop product, VMware View.
For a great blog article from VMware on PCoIP, check out:
http://blogs.vmware.com/view-point/2009/10/why-pcoip-is-the-best-protocol-for-virtual-desktops.html
If you want to download VMware View 4.6 please check this website:
http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/desktop_downloads/vmware_view/4_6
You’ll find the release notes and documentation here:
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/view_pubs.html