Citrix changes XenDesktop 4 licensing, introduces VDI Edition

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A couple of weeks ago Citrix announced the newest version of its XenDesktop. While the product is about to deliver interesting features, many customers complained about the new licensing scheme because Citrix moved a concurrent user model to a named user model.

The product is not out yet (the release is planned for November 16) but Citrix, listening to the feedbacks, already changed its pricing strategy.

With an informal announcement on his corporate blog, Sumit Dhawan, Vice President of Product Marketing, describes the new rules:

  1. Customers can choose between the “per named user” model and the “per device” model for XenDesktop Enterprise ($225) and Platinum Editions ($350).
    Same license for both uses. Same price.
  2. The Standard Edition license is replaced by a brand new VDI Edition which has a “per named user” and “per device” license model ($95) as well as the dear old “per concurrent user” license model ($195).

The new VDI edition doesn’t include XenApp but still supports 3rd party hypervisors like Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware VI/vSphere.