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Virtualization is a star - at least in the big stage of the iPad. Since the device launched, Citrix Receiver has been one of the top ranked business apps in the store.

Chris Fleck, mobility leader on the Citrix team shares this demonstration showing a Citrix Receiver application enabled with four applications running side by side on iPad. He goes further to show the same apps running on a host of other devices.

When will the iPad deliver in the enterprise? We first asked this question on Feb 11th when we interviewed the Citrix team. At the time, we gave it a thumbs-up as the Citrix team had good answers for all of our questions.

Today, with the launch of the iPad, Citrix has delivered on its promise of making Citrix Receiver (powered by XENApps) for iPad available as a day one app in the iPad app store. Seeing is believing, so today we took a look at the new application on the new device.

Watch this battle unfold. The virtualization wars are just getting started.

On one side we have Microsoft, which announced changes in its licensing structures this week. The change reflects an understanding that the customer wants full access to its virtualization platform and not be charged a tax for that right to access it on a PC, no matter if it is at work or in their home.

And in true fashion, Microsoft is on the attack, Citrix at its side, in a full on fight with VMware for the virtualization market.

The iPad is dropping soon. The question remains, how big of an opportunity is it for the enterprise? Today we take a look at the work being done by software virtualization leader Citrix to get ready for streaming applications to the iPad. And we find that it looks more promising than ever to move quickly to supporting a tablet experience in the four walls of the enterprise.

Building on the massive momentum of the iPhone, software virtualization (running non native apps directly from iPad) allows existing apps to run on iPad without changing them. Citrix Reciever, an application designed to bring streaming software from one machine to your iPhone is being prepared for the iPad, and will also be able to interact with existing Windows applications in production environments.

Today's smartphones are useful for messaging and some collaboration applications.

But connecting to applications on a desktop with a smartphone is impractical. It's far easier to see your desktop using a laptop with virtualization software.

Citrix Systems and Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs) are teaming up so the smartphone has its own virtualization software, allowing it to access any application on a virtual desktop.

Virtualization technology can improve the cost efficiency of the data center by running servers at higher utilization. Deploying virtual servers can yield a more energy efficient data center and reduce the total footprint of a computing environment.

Although IT managers have started adopting virtualization for critical infrastructure, reports such as the poll conducted by Network Instruments in 2009 and reported on by Information World suggest that many IT managers could not confirm that they got the expected savings by virtualizing their environment. In that context, it is very nice to report that all of the key virtualization software vendors provide free or low-cost solutions that can be deployed and managed by IT teams. These solutions can be deployed in production environments so that teams can get started and determine for themselves if it is appropriate for their environment to host applications on virtual servers.

Citrix just entered the screencasting market with its GoView application for Windows. GoView, which was launched at the DEMO conference today, allows you to record demos on your screen and Citrix will host these videos for you. Unlike most of Citrix's offerings, GoView is available for free. While the tool is easy enough to use, its feature set lags behind its direct competitors like Jing or ScreenToaster. However, while it doesn't offer a lot of new features, it is very easy to use and will surely attract a large number of users.