VMware has announced the release of Horizon 7.1 GA on 16th March 2017. This is the First Feature rich release on Horizon 7. VMware Horizon 7 version 7.1 provides

VMware Horizon 7 version 7.1 provides the following new Features and enhancements:

• VMware Blast Extreme
  • Extra mouse buttons such as the back and forward buttons on Logitech MX620 are supported.
  • Connections to physical machines that have no monitors attached are supported with NVIDIA graphics cards. This is a technical preview feature for Horizon 7 version 7.1.
  • The Blast Secure Gateway includes Blast Extreme Adaptive Transport (BEAT) networking, which dynamically adjusts to network conditions such as varying speeds and packet loss.
• URL Content Redirection Enhancements
  • You can configure and manage client-to-agent redirection settings by running vdmutil commands on the Connection Server host. You still configure agent-to-client redirection by using GPOs.
  • Client-to-agent redirection is supported for Mac clients when you configure client-to-agent redirection by running vdmutil commands.
  • If you have a Cloud Pod Architecture environment, you can use vdmutil commands to create global URL content redirection settings, which are visible across the pod federation. With global URL content redirection settings, you can redirect URL links in the client to global resources, such as global desktop entitlements and global application entitlements.
  • The urlRedirection-enUS.admx template file contains settings that enable you to control whether an URL link is opened on the client (agent-to-client redirection) or in a remote desktop or application (client-to-agent redirection).
• Horizon for Linux 7.1 Desktops Enhancements
  • RHEL 7.3, CentOS 7.3, SLED 12 SP2, and SLES 12 SP2 are now supported.
  • Linux Agent Single Sign Support on Ubuntu 14.04 and Ubuntu 16.04 has been added.
  • The Client Drive Redirection (CDR) feature is now available as a technology preview.
  • The USB Redirection feature is available on Ubuntu 14.04 and Ubuntu 16.04 as a technology preview.
  • The Keyboard Layout and Locale Synchronization feature is supported for Horizon Client for Windows and only for English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese locales.
• Published Desktops and Applications
  • You can create an automated instant-clone farm and schedule maintenance for the instant-clone farm.
  • You can select multiple vLAN networks to create a larger instant-clone desktop pool. Only the static port group is supported.
  • You can configure unauthenticated access for users to access published applications from a Horizon Client without requiring Active Directory credentials.
• Instant Clones
  • You can use NVIDIA GRID vGPUs with instant-clone desktop pools. Note that configuring PCoIP as the display protocol with NVIDIA GRID vGPU is a technical preview feature.
  • You can select multiple vLAN networks to create a larger instant-clone desktop pool. Only the static port group is supported.
  • You can use the internal VM debug mode to troubleshoot internal virtual machines in an instant-clone desktop pool or in an instant-clone farm.
  • Administrators can perform a restart or reset of the virtual desktops managed by the vCenter Server.
  • You can perform maintenance on instant-clone VMs by putting the ESXi hosts into maintenance mode. Use vSphere Web Client to put the ESXi host into maintenance mode. The ESXi host maintenance operation automatically deletes the parent VMs from that ESXi host.
• Virtual Desktops
  Administrators can perform a graceful restart of the virtual desktops managed by the vCenter Server.
• Cloud Pod Architecture Enhancements
  • If you enable the multiple sessions per user policy when you create a global desktop entitlement, users can initiate separate desktop sessions from different client devices.
  • You can configure the restricted global entitlements feature to restrict access to global entitlements based on the Connection Server instance that users initially connect to when they select global entitlements.
• ADM and ADMX Template Files
  The ADM template files are deprecated and the ADMX template files are added.
• IPv6 Environment
  Virtual printing is supported for a Windows Client in the IPv6 environment.
• Horizon PowerCLI
  • You can use Horizon PowerCLI advanced functions to change the icon of a published application.
• Operating Systems for Instant-Clone Remote Desktops
  The following operating systems are now supported:
  • Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2016
• vSphere Platform
  vSphere Virtual Machine Encryption (in vSphere 6.5) for full clone desktop pools is supported.
• Access Point
  Beginning with version 2.9, VMware Access Point is renamed to VMware Unified Access Gateway. This change is not yet reflected in the Horizon 7 version 7.1 and Horizon Client 4.4 documentation sets.
• Smart Card Authentication
  Administrators can specify multiple Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs).

Horizon Server 7.1.0 Release Highlights:

• Instant Clone Support for RDS Hosts for ultra-fast provisioning
• Instant Clone Enhancements (Multi-VLAN and vGPU Support)
• Support desktop restart without the need for admin intervention
• Unauthenticated Access with Horizon RDSH
• Customize RDSH Application Icon
• RDSH Instant Clone to Support Windows 2012/2012R2, Windows 2016, and Windows 2008R2
• Transition from ADM to ADMX provides easier application of GPOs on modern OS including Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 and 2016

Horizon Client 4.4.0 Release Highlights:

• Blast Extreme 2.0: Blast Extreme Adaptive Transport (BEAT)
• VMware Horizon Virtualization Pack for Skype (public Beta)
• Desktop restart client support
• Unauthenticated access client support
• User login enhancements
• Windows 10 Aero Peek and Aero Snap
• Additionally, 54 features on-boarded & ready to ship

For full information on features and enhancements, please refer to Release Notes for VMware Horizon 7 version 7.1

Supported versions of Windows 10 on Horizon View: KB2149393

Upgrade Requirements for Windows 10 Operating Systems: KB2148176

Reference Links:

Download Landing Pages:

VMware Horizon – Click Here

VMware Horizon Apps – Click Here

VMware Horizon Clients – Click Here

Documentation:

VMware Horizon 7 Documentation

VMware Horizon Clients Documentation

In my next blog, I will provide more detailed information about the enhancement and features.

Hope you find this useful. Thanks for reading, Keep sharing.