Citrix to help users run Windows 7 on the iPad

Citrix Systems claims that it can help users run a virtual installation of Windows 7 on the Apple iPad, when the tablet device is released later this year.

Writing in a blog post on the company's site, Chris Fleck, the company's vice president of Community and Solutions Development, said those companies that use either of the company's desktop virtualization platforms, XenDesktop or XenApp, will be able to use Windows 7 from the iPad.

"It turns out [that] the 9.7-inch display on the iPad, with a 1024x768[-pixel] screen resolution, works great for a full [virtual desktop infrastructure] XenDesktop," Fleck wrote on the Citrix blog.

Fleck went on to say that any Windows application will "run unmodified and securely in the data center." It will even allow for users to use multiple applications at once--a major sticking point with Apple's iPad software.

It should be noted that Windows 7 can't be directly installed on the iPad. Citrix's software runs Windows from a server and simply displays it on the iPad. In other words, the service is a thin client, not a full-fledged Windows 7 installation.

"The iPad looks to be an ideal end-point device that can empower users to be productive wherever they are," Fleck wrote, "and IT will be able to safely deliver company-hosted virtual desktops and apps without worry."