With the release of the new version of Horizon 7.8 and the 5.0 client, VMware establishes its intention of investing in the development of the Horizon project. After the introduction of Blast, which brought the development of the communication protocol back to VMware, more and more interesting features arrived, such as the optimization for Skype for Business, the serial redirection, the support for Wacom signature tablets, etc.

So let’s see what new features the 5.0 client introduced when used together with the 7.8 server version:

  • Graphical interface redesign (Linux and Windows) 

    Interface redesigned with icons that refer to the Cloud.

  • Configurable lock key synchronization (Windows only)

    It is possible to configure the synchronization of special keys such as num lock, scroll lock, and caps lock.

  • DPI synchronization by connection (Linux and Windows)

    Thanks to the decrease in prices, as private customers, also companies begun to use 4K monitors. Used at native resolution and standard DPI, the monitor is often a problem, since the size of the objects and in particular of the text actually makes it unusable.

    For this reason, many operating systems allow defining a sort of zoom (specifying the DPI). In this way it is possible to use a 4K monitor, as if it were a Full HD monitor. By connecting to Horizon using a 4K monitor, the session will start with a zoom set to default and therefore with a DPI value that does not allow easy use by the user. One of the possibilities therefore is to set the DPI default to a suitable value.

    But at this point what happens if we connect to the virtual desktop from a workstation with Full HD monitors? The session will start with too much zoom. To solve this problem, VMware has developed a technology called DPI Synchronization. Through this development the value of the endpoint DPI is inherited from the virtual session, without having to set a virtual machine default. In this way, regardless of the resolution of the monitor used, the VDI session will be displayed optimally. The DPI Synchronization is a feature enabled by default: the only requirements are the Horizon 5.0 client (Linux or Windows), a Horizon 7.8 infrastructure and Windows 10 versions 1607 or Windows Server 2016 and successive virtual machines.

    Used in a VDI environment, this type of monitor increases the complexity for IT managers. A native 4K session is certainly very expensive in terms of bandwidth and CPU power required.

  • Error messages customization (Windows only)

    The administrator can use the new client footer to add help text under each error that appears via the Horizon client.

  • Customizing client menus (Windows only)

    The administrator can use group policies to remove various items from the client menu.

  • Security Domain Policy (Linux and Windows)

    It will no longer be possible to authenticate using a separate user domain on the command line. You will need to use user@domain or domain/user to authenticate.

  • Automatic start of more than one application or desktop

    From this version it is possible to list all applications or desktops that must be started automatically after user authentication.

  • Scanner Redirection (already present in the Windows client, new feature in the Linux client)

    In a virtualized system, some devices create greater challenges in remote use. A category of these peripherals is represented by scanners that, while functioning and easily exported through USB redirection technologies, are not easily manageable since the communication between the driver and the peripheral requires that the image is “transferred” entirely, quickly creating a saturation of the available band.

    In this context the user perceives a strong slowdown in his own experience. To mitigate the behavior it is possible to limit the band that can be used by the USB channel, allowing the user to continue working during the scan, but making the scanning much slower than a local one. For this reason, it is often more convenient to use scanners directly connected to the network, rather than USB scanners connected directly to the computer. The redirection scanner technology allows to use the local driver of the PC or the Thin Client, thus allowing the transfer of the entirely compressed flow between the virtual machine and the physical access point.

    With the 5.0 version of the Horizon View Client, this functionality is available for both endpoints running Windows operating systems and for those running Linux systems. To configure the redirection scanner it is necessary (unlike when used in USB redirection) to install the scanner drivers locally at the endpoint, while on the VDI side it is sufficient to install the “Horizon View Agent 7.8” component with the redirection scanner component enabled.

  • Improved multi-monitor support (Linux and Windows)

    Added support for up to 6 monitors and synchronization between client-side resolution changes with the server. For example, if a monitor is disconnected during a session, the session will notice the new client-side resolution and behave accordingly.

At Praim we have been active from day one to integrate the new Horizon 5.0 client into our ThinOX system. In these days we are certifying our products through the official VMware channels: the Windows and ThinOX certified products with version 5.0 will soon be available.

For more information, contact us.

 

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