Want CNET to notify you of price drops and the latest stories?
No, thank you Accept
X
6 Tips for Choosing Contact LensesiOS 17 Wish ListAI in FitnessShokz Headphones on SaleMeal Subscription vs. TakeoutBest Solar CompaniesVerizon 5G Home InternetBest Credit Cards

Citrix to help users run Windows 7 on the iPad

Vice President Chris Fleck says his company can run a virtual installation of Windows 7 on the upcoming Apple tablet. It's set to work the day the iPad hits store shelves.

donreisinger.jpg
donreisinger.jpg
Don Reisinger
Former CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
See full bio
Don Reisinger
iPad
A virtual Windows 7 running on the iPad. Citrix

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."