Solaris, Win2k on your cellphone? Citrix ships the tools

Citrix is to release NFuse, application portal software that allows users access to multiple server-based apps via browsers, as a free download from tomorrow. NFuse, which was developed under the codename of Charlotte, gives appliances of all shapes and sizes the ability to run remote applications on Citrix MetaFrame servers. Initially this will mean apps running on Win2k and NT 4.0 MetaFrame servers - MetaFrame for Win2k is itself being released tomorrow. But Citrix is also due to go gold with MetaFrame for Solaris shortly, and demos of Charlotte last year were actually running Solaris apps, so it will be feasible for appliances running Citrix ICA to access both Windows and Unix apps via a 'program neighbourhood' system fairly swiftly. On an EPOC smartphone or a Palm? Well, last year's demo did show a Palm simulator running a Solaris app on the other side of the Atlantic. NFuse will let ASPS and large enterprises publish access to their own applications simply, while at the same time letting users access them from anywhere. The next stage Citrix envisages is the delivery of personalised workplaces, where individual users or customers get access to their own personalised content and applications when they connect. So isn't it about time Citrix got itself a major deal with a cellular network provider to announce? ®