Observations from testing

System configurations vary

The virtual machines are not running with the equivalent configuration. (e.g. use of Aero restricted in the VMware virtual machines)

This may invalidate some of the observations that follow

Additional software is needed

Basics such as QuickTime player and Adobe Acrobat Reader are not installed. Additional software would enable better testing of real world use

At a basic level, both solutions are functional for standard tasks

Both systems were adequate for accessing a desktop remotely when discounting the full user experience. Neither were equivalent to running locally but (basic) work could be completed if required

Citrix client exposed additional features

Settings such as screen resolution, offloading Flash, etc... were exposed via the client

Screen resolution and other features are configurable via the VMware client, the HTML interface isn't designed for feature parity.

VMware solution has substantially more artifacts around text

Subtle but slightly annoying artifacts are more pronounced in the VMware solution, more noticable during refresh events such as mousing over a tab in Firefox

This will potentially be missed by some people but really annoy others

Sound quality is 'ok' when streaming tthrough Citrix

Streaming music works but was at a noticeably lower quality that I what I would expect.

VMware solution did not allow audio streaming via HTML

Unable to stream audio locally via the VMware Desktop

Audio works fine with the VMware Client

VMware HTML has a substantial lag between typing and display of text

The VMware solution had a substantial level of lag between when text was entered and when the updates appeared on the screen. The Citrix solution had some barely noticeable lag but was nearly real time

There should be no noticable delay when using the VMware View client.

Unable to enter full screen mode via VMware solution

Unable to get to a full screen view of the desktop

Possible with the VMware View client

Access to local resource with Citrix

Citrix appears to allow access to the local hard drive. I am not certain if the same functionality exists in the VMware solution.

It is good that this feature can be set to disabled by default. The interaction of certain software running on the virtual machines and local files needs to be fully understood prior to implementation (e.g. antivirus scan and potentially report false positives where the infection is local to the user, not the virtual machine?).

Issues PDFs in VMware solution Internet Explorer

Opening http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf directly from Internet Explorer in the VMware solution caused the system to hang then eventually respond. Opening it in Internet Explorer in the Citrix solution worked fine.

Possible issue with different desktop images, management model, or my installation of Acrobat Reader. 

Snap 2013-10-30 at 13.29.15.png

PDFs looked different

PDFs appeared to be of different quality in each solution.

This should be explored

System resources vary

Virtual machines are not running with the equivalent amount of resources (e.g. 2GB vs 4GB RAM)

This may invalidate some of the observations that follow