VMware Launches ThinApp 4.0

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, today announced the upcoming availability of VMware ThinApp 4, an application virtualization solution that lets customers run multiple versions of virtually any application on any Windows operating system without conflict. For example, users can run both Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 on the same operating system without disruption.

ThinApp, based on Thinstall technology, the leading agentless application virtualization solution, requires no pre-installed software on physical or virtual PCs and no new deployment infrastructure or management tools. ThinApp dramatically improves application packaging, delivery, and management by enabling plug-and-play applications using an enterprises existing systems and management tools. ThinApp packages applications in familiar formats (.MSI or .EXE) that can plug into existing infrastructure for software license management, deployment, audit and compliance.

ThinApp 4 introduces two revolutionary new features: Application Link and Application Sync, which enable two virtualized applications to communicate with each other and remote virtual applications to be updated. These features are important for easier management of the virtual applications. ThinApp extends VMware’s industry-leading desktop virtualization product family to enable management solutions for both desktops and applications.

Traditional application packaging and delivery tools are fraught with application and operating system conflicts, which lead to a “brittle” desktop environment. ThinApp eliminates these conflicts and securely packages applications for delivery to physical and virtual desktops throughout the extended enterprise. The result is an application delivery solution which lets IT administrators define their technology roadmaps based on their business needs rather than being constrained by application limitations.

Customers want application virtualization technologies that do not restrict applications to one presentation format or another, ThinApp enables the same virtual application to be streamed from a network, presented from a terminal server, delivered to USB stick (e.g., for a contract worker), or delivered through standard software delivery tools with little to no integration required. ThinApp also helps IT administrators manage applications that do not run as well in shared-user environments such as Microsoft Terminal Server. By creating a separate instance with its own private sandbox, each application runs in the context of each user session without having to be modified; if a user “breaks” the application, other users are not impacted.“Application packaging, testing and delivery continues to be one of the biggest drivers of desktop management costs and a barrier to compliance and security,” said Jeff Jennings, vice president of desktop products and solutions for VMware. “With VMware ThinApp, customers can decouple applications from the underlying OS, which makes their application environments more agile and flexible while maintaining control over their desktops.”

VMware Inc.