This post is for all the drawers, signers, doodlers, and creators out there. Citrix sees your need to have pen in hand and has brought new drawing capabilities to your virtual environment.

The primary goal of the HDX product team is to deliver the best possible user experience to our customers. Making life easier for the user and embracing their preferred technologies is at the core of what we do. Users of Windows devices, with touch screen and pen functionality, are extremely familiar with the Windows Ink technology.

As a Product Manager, I sit in a lot of engineering meetings where I take notes. Using the detached display of a Surface Book 2, I use OneNote and the Surface Pen to write. To be honest, I can write faster than I can type, so my handwritten notes are more complete. I also work with our product design team and have seen designers use their pens to create wire frames as we talk through design ideas.

We’re happy to announce that with the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 1903 current release, you can now leverage these capabilities, no matter the use case, in your virtual environment to best achieve your work. Any Windows 10 device (running v1809 or above) with pen functionality offers users a local-like experience in their Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops session.

Previously, pens in a virtual environment defaulted as a pointing tool rather than a drawing device, offering a less-than-optimal user experience. Leveraging Microsoft’s latest APIs, admins can deliver Windows Ink to their users and give them seamless erasing, pressure sensitivity, and selecting capabilities, in addition to enabling them to use the pen as a pointing tool.

Check out this video to see the functionality in action:

The possibilities are truly endless. Some, like retrieving signatures, are business critical in industries like healthcare and financial services. Digital signatures are where the future is headed, and knowing that your virtual environment can seamlessly allow for this is imperative.

And I can hear the content creators and marketing teams of the world celebrating. The 3D applications, digital sketchbooks, and editing software they use to get their work done well can now be optimized with the pen capability via their Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops sessions.

No matter how you, or your users, draw, sign, create, or doodle, Citrix can deliver a virtualized solution.

If you’ll be at Citrix Synergy in Atlanta from May 21-23, check out session SYN211 for the latest and greatest in HDX innovations.