From VMware's own Warren Ponder (one of the authors of the recent View Reference Architecture): Virtual Desktop Blog: Tolly Report : Virtual Desktop Implimentaion VMware View 3 Premier vs. Citrix XenDesktop Enterprise 2.1.
Complexity is one the most important factors and considerations as
people move more of their physical desktops toward virtual desktops.
Complexity inherently introduces risk and increases the chance for
failure and additional cost. One thing I have always said, is we are
building and designing a solution from the ground up to enable a new
way do doing things in a virtual world. We are not trying to retro fit
legacy products to work in a virtual world.One of the things that impresses me the most about the engineering
talent at VMware is the level of effort and willingness to listen to
customer needs and requirements and wring out the complexity ultimately
simplifying things for the customer. This comes at price to us, it
takes time, effort, willingness to listen, and a desire to provide
customer focused service. All well worth the price.Recently we worked with an "independent performance consultancy The Tolly Group
to compare the differences of what it takes to get a mission critical
solution such as a Virtual Desktop solution up and running using VMware
View or Citrix XenDesktop in a timely, efficient, cost effective
manner.
The pdf can be downloaded here. I couldn't cut text from the pdf (pet peeve), but Jason Boche quotes the findings:
VMware View 3:
- Installed more rapidly and with considerably fewer steps and less manual intervention
- Provides simpler image management that makes more efficient use of disk
- Requires no manual configuration of Microsoft Active Directory or DHCP
- Allows management of all VDI functions through a single web-based GUI
- Provides equivalent end-user experience on LAN as Citrix for Microsoft Office applications
