Profile Management 4.0 BETA

Citrix have released Profile Management 4.0 BETA. One of the new cool features is Profile Management Cross-platform Settings.

Profile Management Cross-platform settings is not creating a singular profile but enables application specific settings to roam across OS versions – applications like Office.  Any support, questions or feedback should be submitted in the support forum.

This capability allows admins to define application and desktop settings in a profile that should roam from one OS to another.  E.g. Settings for AppA are supported on 2003, 2008, XP and Win7.  Settings for AppB are only supported on XP and Win7.  This Beta has built-in application definitions for Office (2007 and 2010) and Internet Explorer and is configured to roam to all OS versions.  The full list of settings and apps may be seen after installation (there is am XML file for each app and desktop setting).

Our primary focus for this is getting insight into the admin experience (is it a viable way to handle these types of settings) and to better understand what apps (and types of apps) are likely to be supported across multiple OSes.  E.g. we expect this to primarily be helper apps like Office and Adobe Reader but want to make sure we understand all such apps.  Citrix wants ensure it is enough of an out of box experience and does not create obstacles to adoption and use.  We look forward to your feedback.

Digging in – What’s New in Profile Management 4.0

This version includes the following new key features:

Offline profiles. This feature is aimed at laptop and mobile device users who roam. Citrix offline profiles have minimal configuration and reduce disruption when network connections are lost by caching files locally until the network (and therefore the user store) is available again. This feature works with domain-joined computers only.

Cross-platform settings. For several common applications, this feature allows a users’ settings in their profile to roam when they connect to the same application running on multiple
operating systems. Without this feature, if a user connects to an application that creates a Version 1 profile on one platform and a Version 2 profile on another, they would have to duplicate their application settings. For information on Version 1 and Version 2 profiles, see About Profiles on page 20. When this feature is configured, users avoid duplicate settings. Common files and registry settings are identified, grouped together, and stored in the cross-platform settings store. When the user switches platforms, Profile management fetches the common items for the appropriate platform from this location (in addition to any platform-specific files and settings from the user store) so the user gets the same experience on both platforms. For a list of the applications and operating systems supported by this feature, see Operating Systems and Applications Supported By Cross-Platform Settings on page
170.

Support for pre-launched applications. The Pre-launch feature in Citrix XenApp enhances the launching of published applications by creating an empty session for published applications, which is scheduled using Citrix policies. With the feature configured, when users log on they connect to an existing session and applications launch immediately. No configuration of Profile management is required.

Please note that this Beta is only available to current XenApp and XenDesktop customers.

General Documentation