VMware ThinApp

VMware ThinApp

Original author(s)	Jitit Inc.
Developer(s)	VMware
Stable release	4.6.2 / August 25, 2011; 2 months ago (2011-08-25)[1][2]
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Size	34 MB
Type	Application virtualization Portable application creator
License	Shareware
Website	www.vmware.com/products/thinapp

VMware ThinApp (formerly Thinstall) is an application virtualization and portable application creator suite by VMware that can package conventional applications so that they become portable applications. According to VMware, the product has a success rate of about 90-95% in packaging applications.^[3]

History

ThinApp (previously known as Thinstall) was originally developed by Jitit Inc. and was acquired by VMware on January 15, 2008.^[4] VMware later used the code name VMware Project North Star while the product was in beta.^[5] On June 10, 2008, VMware announced that the final name for the product was going to be VMware ThinApp.^[6] The trial version of Thinstall was initially available only to corporations,^[7] however VMware now offers a public trial version.^[8]

Technology

VMware ThinApp is an application virtualization solution.^[9] ThinApp is able to execute applications without them being installed in the traditional sense by virtualizing resources such as environment variables, files and Windows Registry keys. The virtual environment presented to the client is a merged view of the underlying physical and virtual resources, thereby allowing the virtualization layer to fool the application into thinking that it is running as if it were fully installed. ThinApp does not have any pre-installed components and does not require the installation of device drivers allowing applications to run from USB keys or network shares without ever requiring Administrator rights. ThinApp converts standard application installers such as .msi files into self-contained EXE files which includes everything required to run. Also it is able to scan a system before and after an applications installation and create a portable executable based upon changes made to the systems files and registry. Unlike self-extracting ZIP files, ThinApp does not extract files to disk or require system registry changes in order to run applications. ThinApp supports all released x86-based Windows systems from Windows NT4, 2000, XP (64/32), Vista (64/32), Server 2003, Server 2008 (64), Server 2008 R2 (64), and Windows 7 (64/32).

Editions

The most "basic" version of ThinApp is "VMware ThinApp Starter Edition", offered for free with any purchase of VMware Workstation^[10][11], while the most "advanced" version is "VMware ThinApp Enterprise Edition", which adds support for AppSync updating, Active Directory integration and allows usage by multiple users (both for the ThinApp Packager and ThinApp Client).^[12]

Software compatibility

Many Windows applications can be packaged and made portable with VMware ThinApp, with the following notable exceptions:

• Any software that installs and requires a device driver to function. Applications that use pre-installed device drivers can function without issues.^[13]
• Some software with copy protection based on hardware. ThinApp will virtualize some hardware properties such as harddrive serial numbers but applications that bind to things like ethernet MAC address or CPU-ID may not run when moved to another PC.

See also

• Application Virtualization
• Portable application creators
• Windows To Go
• Software appliance

References

1. ^ "VMware ThinApp 4.6.2 Release Notes". VMware, Inc. August 24, 2011. https://www.vmware.com/support/thinapp4/doc/releasenotes_thinapp462.html. Retrieved June 1, 2011. 
2. ^ "VMware ThinApp 4.6.2 – What’s new?". VMware ThinApp Blog. VMware, Inc. August 25, 2011. http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/2011/08/vmware-thinapp-462-whats-new.html. Retrieved June 1, 2011. 
3. ^ http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/2009/12/top-10-questions-on-thinapp.html
4. ^ "VMware to Expand Desktop Virtualization Solution with Acquisition of Thinstall" (Press release). VMware. January 15, 2008. http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/thinstall.html. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
5. ^ "VMware ThinApp (Project North Star/Thinstall) Release Candidate". VMware. June 10, 2008. http://communities.vmware.com/community/beta/northstar. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
6. ^ "VMware Launches ThinApp 4.0 to Run Virtually Any Application on Any Windows Operating System without Conflict" (Press release). VMware. June 10, 2008. http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/thinapp_4.html. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
7. ^ "VMware ThinApp Application Virtualization Platform: IT Management Solutions". Thinstall.com. http://www.thinstall.com/products/virtualization_suite_dl.php. Retrieved 2009-10-22. 
8. ^ "Evaluate VMware ThinApp". VMware. http://www.vmware.com/go/trythinapp. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
9. ^ "Introduction to VMware ThinApp". VMware. 2008-06-26. http://www.vmware.com/pdf/thinapp_intro.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
10. ^ http://www.vmware.com/products/workstation/thinapp-starter-edition.html
11. ^ http://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2010/11/buy-vmware-workstation-7-get-vmware-thinapp-starter-edition-for-free.html
12. ^ http://www.vmware.com/products/workstation/thinapp-starter-edition.html
13. ^ Thinstall product demos (in German) (the first one)

External links

• Official website