To coincide with the eagerly awaited release of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1), IGEL announces its upcoming support for Microsoft RemoteFX on all Linux-based Universal Desktop thin clients. This means that almost any content can now be displayed remotely on a Linux-based thin client, providing a high quality user experience, without the need for any locally installed codecs or multimedia redirection.

RemoteFX, used with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Remote Desktop Services for virtual desktops, enhances the user experience for remotely displayed graphics. This enhancement allows Windows desktops and applications - including Windows Aero, Microsoft Silverlight, and Adobe Flash animations; full-motion videos; and 3D applications - to be displayed remotely with nearly the same quality of user experience over local networks (LAN), as can be experienced directly on a local PC.

RemoteFX is a protocol extension for the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) included in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. To use the new RemoteFX functionality, a thin client must support RDP 7.1. This capability is now offered in the IGEL Universal Desktop thin clients UD3, UD5 and UD9, and also by the IGEL Universal Desktop Converter (UDC) software. With its UDC software, IGEL offers an immediate and affordable initial step for migrating to a Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment. UDC allows PCs and thin clients from other manufacturers to be functionally standardized and converted into an IGEL Universal Desktops device for powerful, efficient VDI access. Furthermore, all Universal Desktop solutions can be remotely managed with the IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS) management solution, which comes standard with all IGEL devices.

"As organizations plan to deploy a centralized computing architecture with virtualized or session-based desktops, IT professionals want to deliver a premium user experience to connected workers," said Manlio Vecchiet, director of product management at Microsoft Corp. “Microsoft RemoteFX capabilities in Windows Server will allow remote workers to access any type of application or screen content, including rich media and 3D applications. IGEL Universal Desktop products offer a path to the future by investing in solutions today that will increase the flexibility and performance of a centralized desktop environment in heterogeneous environments."

“This initiative will deliver a whole new class of user experience within Microsoft VDI environments”, promises Florian Spatz, Product Marketing Manager at IGEL Technology. “In fact, the RemoteFX support in our Linux system is also hardware optimized to provide high performance in conjunction with IGEL Universal Desktops. This means that, finally, almost any content can now be efficiently remotely displayed to a Linux-based thin client, providing a high quality user experience without the need for multimedia redirection or locally installed codecs.”

Price and Availability
The RemoteFX extension is included in all feature packs (Entry, Standard and Advanced) of the IGEL Linux operating system, available for all IGEL Universal Desktop models from UD3 on and the IGEL Universal Desktop Converter (UDC) software. The new release of the IGEL Linux firmware will be released on April 2nd 2011.