In the attempt to distract the audience just before the VMware VMworld 2010 opening keynote, Citrix announced last week the imminent availability of XenClient 1.0.
The Xen-based client hypervisor (see virtualization.info report about it) is expected to ship at the end of September as part of the XenDesktop 4.0 Feature Pack 2.
The platform will be free only for XenDesktop Enterprise and Platinum editions customers with current Subscription Advantage agreements.
It’s not clear if consumers will be able to download and use the product in some way but it seems that Citrix is primarily targeting enterprise customers with this first release.
But no fear: Virtual Computer is expected to release NxTop 3.0 later today, which will introduce a free downloadable client hypervisor that doesn’t require the enterprise management component.
Update: Those ones that don’t have XenDesktop can still use the product. Citrix will release a XenClient Express edition you can be used on up to 10 devices free of charge, with full functionality, and no expiry.