Citrix Dazzle lets users pick their apps

Accessing a virtual desktop or applications should be as easy as using iTunes, according to Citrix.

The problem with existing virtualisation systems is they aren't simple enough, claimed speakers at a Citrix press event today in Budapest.

"To get your desktop shouldn't require training, just like purchasing something on Amazon doesn't require training," said desktop vice president Raj Dhingra.

His colleague Simon Crosby, chief technology office for virtual machines, echoed that feeling. "The average IT user is profoundly [disserviced] by end user experience, they are far more productive at home when they go browsing the web," he said.

With that in mind, Citrix is working on a project called Dazzle. Available in mid-December, Dazzle offers a web-styled self-service interface for end users to pick and choose applications when they need them without talking to IT, just like shopping for a song on iTunes.

Any company using XenApp or XenDesktop can install the free Dazzle plug-in to create a "storefront", which lets their end users pick and choose which apps they need from the list that's been made available to them. So, rather than call the IT department when they need that specific application, all they need to do is visit the store.

Demonstrating the system, senior XenDesktop systems engineer Paul Murray showed how users simply bring up the interface, click "add" next to the app they need, and it's shortly added to the start menu of the operating system like any other program.

Dazzle can also be used to deliver virtual desktops or other services, Citrix added.

"We're giving the user access to a resource," Murray said. "We make that a lot, lot easier with this Dazzle technology," it claimed.