VMware View feature request
Last week I visited a new project at which the client wants to virtualize their desktops.
During the kickoff the client mentioned that they use a variety of applications, clients and operating systems and want to deliver all these desktop flavors to their users.
Nothing new so far.
But this variety of clients and operating systems also includes Apples, MacBook (Pro)’s, etc using Mac OS X. Running a View client on a Macbook Pro with Mac OS X is no problem but provisioning Mac OS X as a virtual desktop is a whole different story.
So I was thinking, wouldn’t it be a great feature in the next version of VMware View to support Mac OS X as a virtual desktop.
Rumor has it that in the next major release of VMware’s hypervisor, VMware vSphere 5, support for Mac OS X as an operating system will be included. So the next step would be to add Mac OS X support in VMware View 5.
This would enable us to provide customers with a fully mixed desktop environment, providing Windows applications to a Mac user and Apple applications to a Windows user. Flexibility galore! The best of all worlds. In my opinion it would fit in VMware’s trend to use more towards Apple products like the VMware View client for Mac OS X and iPad and the vSphere client for the iPad.
As I understand the Apple licensing method for Mac OS X client version is bound to a physical entity, server or desktop, so besides the technical issues, the Apple licensing is one of the major hurdles.
So in this ‘open letter to VMware View developers’ I would like to do a feature request for the next major release of VMware View: ‘Add support for Mac OS X as a virtual desktop.‘
Question to all: Would you like to see support for Mac OS X server and or client in the next major release of vSphere and/or View and do you think there’s a market for it?
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The licensing thing is the big bugbear – Apple only allow SERVER OSX virtualisation and only on Apple hardware.
They are missing out on quite a bit of software revenue that way I would think.
But after all Apple will no more selling xservs after jan 31. no one knows what happens after that but at the moment it looks like apple will concentrate on end user devices. that would be a great chance for vmware to get the major apple os x server platform. time will tell …
Actualy we have a usecase where I would need to be able to select OS from a thin client in our computer labs. The student would/should be able to choose ie. “Windows desktop” or “Linux desktop” depending on what they need to to.
As it is now, there are labs with either Windows or Solaris (Sunray) and each of the labs are definitely not optimally used. sometimes one ate overbooked and sometimes the other labs.
Unfortunately there are (almost) no support for Linux as client os in VDI/Terminal services solutions. The big three (Vmware/Citrix/Microsoft) doesn’t do it at least, and smaller ones only partially.
You should take a look at AquaConnect http://www.aquaconnect.net/ Terminal server for Mac
I totally agree. It’s a great product (according to the product sheets). What I’m curious of is wether it will integrate into a VMware View environment. I would like to connect with my View client to all kinds of different environments.