The latest Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2203 Long Term Service Release (LTSR) rolls up over two years of features and functionality updates from eight releases — Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2003 to 2112 — since the last 1912 LTSR. Customers prioritizing predictability can stay on LTSR versions like 7.15 or 1912 and perform incremental changes through Cumulative Updates.

However, user requirements evolve and grow, especially in this age of hybrid work. This presents a challenge for IT — maintain supportability while balancing new capabilities and meeting innovation needs.

Throughout my years at Citrix as an Enterprise Architect, I have had several customer conversations discussing which Citrix release type is right for them. It’s a big decision based on environment, user needs, and how hands-on an IT team wants to be. First, it’s important to understand the three servicing options:

  • Long Term Service Release: Five years of mainstream support, released every two to three years, with no feature updates.
  • Current Release: 18 months of support, released every three months, with feature updates.
  • Cloud Release: Continually supported, operated as a service, always up to date.

In this post, I’ll highlight five reasons why you should upgrade to 2203 today. And in a follow-up post, I’ll look at three reasons why Citrix Cloud is a great option in addition to the LTSR.

Upgrading to the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2203 LTSR

With more than two years of innovation in the 2203 LTSR, it was hard to pick the best features. So instead, I’m going to cheat a little bit and give my top 5 feature categories.

  1. The Graphics Protocol: Citrix is always innovating and improving on the ICA graphics protocol which has given us a leg up in delivering superior remote work experiences. Adaptive audio (with UDP support) dynamically adjusts audio quality, so no longer do you have you to choose Low, Medium, or High qualities for your call center workers. The HDX graphics stack has been overhauled and 3D graphics have also been kicked into high gear to provide up to 120 FPS and improved scalability. Enhanced build to lossless tweaks how moving images are compressed during periods of high network activity to give a smoother UX.
  2. Linux: The Linux VDA made strides to the bridge-the-feature gap in this LTSR and should make you seriously consider deploying Linux workloads. There are too many features to list here, but some highlights are additional distro support (including Amazon Linux 2); adaptive audio; non-domain joined support; additional Citrix Director monitoring metrics; more support scenarios for FAS single sign-on; webcams, Citrix Provisioning Service; and more.
  3. Microsoft Teams Optimization: The Microsoft Teams Optimization feature offloads some multimedia to the local workstation to provide a more native experience. While Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 1912 LTSR had a lot of features in this department, Citrix has continued to add support. We added support for a multi-monitor screen picker, selective app sharing, give/request control, multi-windows for meetings vs. chat, and expanded support for Citrix Workspace app platforms. The result is a better user experience for Microsoft Teams through a virtual desktop.
  4. Built-in Tools: While I’ve mentioned many features that enhance user experience, administrators can always use ways to reduce operational overhead and simplify their lives. Workspace Environment Management (WEM) is now integrated into the VDA installer to make it even easier to optimize and manage workloads. The VDA Restore feature reduces the impact of failed upgrades by automatically creating a restore point to revert to a known good configuration. MTU discovery is a small but major enhancement that facilitates proper negotiation for EDT.
  5. Public Cloud Enhancements: This is probably the headline feature for the 2203 LTSR, where Citrix has reintroduced public cloud support. This means inheriting some of the performance and compatibility improvements made in Citrix Cloud since 1912 LTSR, including faster boot times in Azure, basic GCP MCS support, PVS in Azure, removal of Azure resource group limitations, and the list goes on. However, there are a couple caveats here. First, customers require hybrid rights licensing to leverage these public cloud features. Second, there is not exact feature parity with Citrix Cloud since some features require some of the backend service functions and the configuration process will differ.

With the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2203 LTSR officially here, it’s a great time to step back and decide which model is best for your organization. I would argue that, generally, upgrading to the latest LTSR makes a lot of sense so you can capture the gap of features and fixes from your currently deployed version. Get started today and look out for my post on three reasons why Citrix Cloud is a great option in addition to the LTSR.

Disclaimer: The development, release and timing of any features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion and are subject to change without notice or consultation. The information provided is for informational purposes only and is not a commitment, promise or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions or incorporated into any contract.