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Windows Vista Virtualization: What You Need To Know To Get Started: Page 6 of 6

In many ways, application virtualization is even easier to use than machine virtualization. With AppV, the only thing you need to change is the model you use for application management. Home users can virtualize anything from Internet Explorer to full versions of Microsoft Office. Don't like what a recent Web site visit has done to your browser? Just reset the application and you're back to what you had before. This might just be the answer to what your kids need on the home PC.

Imagine, since Symantec's SVS is free for personal use, home computer manufacturers could pre-load it on their systems. Then, you could carry your applications around with you on a USB keychain. Want to do a bit of browsing, just plug in your USB and launch your favorite applications. Not that's something everyone can get their teeth around.

In the office, AppV is even more powerful. We've worked on a ton of migration and deployment projects and we know for a fact that the most time-consuming effort in any such project is application preparation. With AppV, you completely change the dynamics of any deployment project and put all of the application woes behind you. That's a powerful operating model.

There you have it: two different models that can let you move to Windows Vista at your own pace and on your own terms. Now there's no reason to delay. Move to one of the virtualization models first, then you can move to Vista once you've mastered these new IT operating models.

Resources

About the Authors
Danielle Ruest, Microsoft MVP, and Nelson Ruest, MCSE+Security, MCT, Microsoft MVP, are IT professionals specializing in systems administration, migration planning, software management, and architecture design. They are authors of multiple books, and will soon release the Complete Reference to Windows Server 2008 for McGraw-Hill Osborne. They are also doing a 20-city U.S. tour on server consolidation, and will be offering Windows Server 2008 administration and virtualization courses at Interop Las Vegas in April.