Citrix, a Cloud Software Group company, is introducing Citrix UniconOS dual boot, a new endpoint resiliency capability designed to help organizations recover access to work in minutes—without having to utilize spare hardware, central reimaging, or prolonged business downtime.
Available now as part of Citrix UniconOS Release 7 2607, dual boot turns every compatible Windows endpoint into its own recovery device: an isolated, hardened Citrix UniconOS environment that runs alongside Windows on the device and can reconnect users to their applications via Citrix DaaS and Citrix SecurAccess with Chrome Enterprise in minutes, according to the company.
Many recovery approaches rely on reimaging workflows, central recovery services, or standby devices. However, these methods can be manual, centralized, hardware-dependent and difficult to test at scale before a disruption occurs, the company said.
Citrix UniconOS dual boot changes that model by putting recovery directly on the endpoint. Its dual boot architecture places a second, hardened Citrix UniconOS environment alongside Windows on the same physical disk in a separate partition isolated through secure boot and independent of the Windows file system.
If Windows is compromised, corrupted, or unavailable, the user selects Citrix UniconOS from the boot menu, signs in, and reconnects to the applications they need through Citrix DaaS and Citrix SecurAccess with Chrome Enterprise, while security teams continue investigating the affected Windows environment, Citrix said.
“For organizations in healthcare, financial services, retail, public sector and other industries where downtime has material business impact, endpoint resilience has become a boardroom issue,” said Philipp Benkler, vice president and general manager of Unicon at Citrix. “Citrix UniconOS dual boot is designed to help customers keep work moving when Windows is unavailable, giving users a faster path back to the applications they need through the Citrix platform. By turning existing Windows endpoints into recovery-ready devices, Citrix helps organizations strengthen continuity, reduce operational disruption and maintain productivity when it matters most.”
By pairing an isolated recovery OS with Citrix DaaS for application and desktop delivery, Citrix SecurAccess with Chrome Enterprise for zero-trust access, and Citrix UniconOS Management for fleet-wide control, Citrix’s holistic platform approach helps organizations restore access to work—not just recover the device.
Citrix is the only vendor that combines an immutable endpoint recovery operating system on the endpoint with integrated DaaS application delivery, a secure zero trust network access enterprise browser and cloud-based fleet management in one integrated solution.
Citrix UniconOS dual boot helps organizations maintain access to critical applications when Windows is unavailable because of ransomware, failed patches, or updates, misconfigurations, or other disruptions.
IT teams can deploy Citrix UniconOS, formerly eLux, alongside Windows on existing devices, allowing organizations to use their existing Windows fleet as the recovery fleet without adding a second pool of laptops or separate hardware, allowing organizations to reduce their dependence on spare hardware, disaster recovery cabinets and central imaging services.
For organizations that need additional desktop or application capacity during a disruption, Citrix Platform Flex can further support continuity by helping IT teams scale resources as demand changes, the company said.
Citrix UniconOS dual boot is now available with Citrix UniconOS Release 7 2607.
For more information about this news, visit www.citrix.com.