Application Virtualization – General

Applications modify the file system of a computer when they are installed. In most cases they also create one or more keys in the registry of the operating system.

The aim in virtualizing an application is to decouple it from the (host) operating system on which it is installed. Common to the virtualization solutions available on the market is that they generate a virtualization layer which fits between the application and the host operating system. This mirrors to the application the presence of a file system and a registry.

Depending on the solution, the virtualization layer is implemented technically in different ways. The degree of isolation of an application from the operating system of the host computer may also differ with the virtualization solution that is used. Complete isolation of an application from the host operating system is selectable, as is partial or full access of an application to the operating system and registry of the host operating system.

Virtual applications offer you a whole number of advantages in software deployment:

  • The decoupling of application, operating system and file system means that the computer system on which the virtual application runs is unaltered.
  • Several versions of an application can run in parallel without conflicting, e.g. versions 6 and 7 of Microsoft Internet Explorer.
  • One virtual application can execute on more than one version of an operating system, e.g. Microsoft Word 2007 on Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
  • Virtual applications are easier to create, package, test, deploy to a number of computers and to uninstall than applications installed the traditional way.

VMware ThinApp enables you to generate virtual applications that already contain the virtualization layer. So you need not install any additional client component on host computers. That makes virtual ThinApp applications ideal for software deployment.

DSM supports application virtualization with VMware ThinApp. The installation of ThinApp is fully integrated into the DSM installation. But you require a separate license to use VMware ThinApp. You can obtain this from HEAT Software, [email protected].