Will Linux Desktop Adoption Grow Thanks to Ubuntu 12.04?

With an eye on corporate deployments of Linux desktops, Ubuntu 12.04 is also making it easier for enterprise users to access their non-Linux applications. VMware, Citrix and Microsoft Remote Desktop technologies are now all supported, providing Ubuntu 12.04 users with a way to access enterprise applications. George noted that, for example, if an enterprise migrated to Ubuntu Linux but they still have a single business application that they were not able to migrate, the new remote desktop integration will be a big help.

“Previously you could access, for example, a Citrix server remotely, but you’d have a separate window,” Steve George, VP of Communications and Products at Canonical, explained to InternetNews.com. “Whereas with 12.04, it will be embedded in the operating system.”

“So as far as the end user is concerned they can simply click their application icon in the Ubuntu Linux Unity interface and it will open up the Microsoft application seamlessly. Microsoft RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) support is directly integrated with Ubuntu. Citrix and VMware support is something that end users will have to take an extra step to acquire and download and install clients themselves.

“We’ve been working closely with the Citrix and VMware guys to make that available,” George said. “By delivering this capability, we think it will be a lot easier for people to make the progressive transition across to Ubuntu as their default operating system.”

Read the full story at Datamation:
Ubuntu 12.04 Delivers 5 Years of Enterprise Linux Desktop Support

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.