Yesterday I made my first steps using the Citrix XenClient. XenClient is a bare-metal hypervisor based on 64-bit Xen virtualization technology. It allows you to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single device, and switch between them in real time. You can install VMs directly from disc or you can download a VM from your datacenter using Synchronizer. The main purpose of XenClient is to enable laptop users to take their virtual desktops with them and work from anywhere, anytime.

XenClient is available from the Citrix website as a first release candidate. To get started with XenClient you’ll need a laptop which supports the Intel vPro technology. My laptop is a Dell Latitude E6500 which supports this feature. The installation is very simple. I started out with two virtual machines, one with Windows XP and another with Windows 7 which is my default OS by now. Both OS are 32-bit because a 64-bit guest OS is not supported (yet). I installed the XenClient tools, enabled 3D acceleration on my Windows 7 VM and installed the correct Intel graphics drivers as mentioned in de XenClient RC User Guide. An updated sound driver had to be installed via Windows Update and now I am up and running.

During the first test I was able to play a HD WMV video at 1080p on full resolution (1920×1200) and experienced no problems at all. Video was smooth and the sound didn’t stutter at all.

Next thing to try is Secure Application Sharing between two VM’s with Dazzle. I’ll keep you posted on that.