Interoperability is a favorite technology buzzword, but if you have ever managed a heterogeneous network of Linux and Windows, you know the goal of a truly interoperable desktop has been something of a myth. If you administer a mixed environment, though, you can breathe easier with the recent arrival of Ulteo Open Virtual Desktop (OVD). OVD lets you serve both Linux and Windows apps as part of the same desktop!

Ulteo OVD comes from the labs of Gaël Duval, creator of the first user-friendly Linux desktop distro, Mandrake, which evolved into Mandriva. Ulteo OVD, which just had its first stable release, doesn't do what hasn't been done before – similar products come from big companies like Citrix, VMware, and Sun. But unlike the competition, Ulteo OVD is released under the GNU GPL, and it is available as a free download.

Introducing OVD

The innovative OVD merges input from Windows and Linux application servers into a single desktop interface (Figure 1). The client system can be a full Windows computer, a Linux computer, or even a thin client system. A user working with the virtual desktop on the client can even cut text from a Linux application and paste it in a Windows app.

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