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Citrix XenApp

By Jack Madden

What is Citrix XenApp?

Citrix XenApp, now called Citrix Virtual Apps, was a product that extended Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host (formerly known as Terminal Services) desktop sessions and applications to users through the Citrix HDX protocol.

XenApp and Remote Desktop Services allowed IT departments to centrally manage Windows applications and computing resources in a secure data center. Users could access the Citrix XenApp applications from anywhere and from non-Windows clients. Citrix Virtual Apps now offers the same capabilities as part of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, the company's VDI offering.

A XenApp environment consisted of three parts:

Citrix XenApp versions

Beginning with the XenApp 7 release in 2018, XenApp was renamed Citrix Virtual Apps. Today, Citrix's virtualization product suites are Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD) -- which Citrix Virtual Apps is a component of -- and Citrix DaaS.

Previous Citrix XenApp versions went by the names MetaFrame, MetaFrame XP, MetaFrame Presentation Server and Presentation Server. MetaFrame hit the market in 1998. Its predecessor, WinFrame, debuted in 1995.

The product received the name XenApp following Citrix's acquisition of XenSource. Edition names included Citrix XenApp Fundamentals, XenApp Advanced, XenApp Enterprise and XenApp Platinum.

What does Citrix Virtual Apps do?

There are several different reasons organizations choose to deploy Citrix Virtual Apps, including the following:

20 Jul 2023

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