On behalf of VMware, I would like to make a few announcements regarding our highly-valued VMware® ThinApp® technology. The first and most exciting is that ThinApp 5.0 is coming very, very soon. It is so exciting that you just might put on a costume for it 😉
This release is the introduction of our enhanced architecture that utilizes a streamlined approach for application virtualization at a lower layer in the operating system. This allows ThinApp 5.0 to support 64-bit applications and enable greater application compatibility while keeping a high standard of performance and our unique agentless approach. This was a major effort that we are happy to announce along with some other details:
- Support AND documentation for packaging Office 2013 and Internet Explorer 10
- Improved ThinDirect management with new ADMX & ADM policy files
- Support for integration of personalization settings with AppSense between native and ThinApp versions of applications
In addition, we would like to officially announce that we will continue to deliver ThinApp as a standalone SKU. Back in March, we let our customers know that we planned to consolidate ThinApp licensing into the Horizon™ Suite and bundles. Since this announcement, a number of our customers and partners have made it clear that although they understand our stated direction for ThinApp within the overall Horizon Family, they have a number of use cases where standalone ThinApp SKUs would be easier and more flexible for them to adopt. VMware has listened carefully to this feedback and is pleased to announce that the announced ‘End-of-Availability’ of the standalone SKUs for ThinApp previously slated for December 15th 2013 has been cancelled. Standalone ThinApp SKUs will continue to be available until further notice (as well as available bundled as part of the Horizon Suite). Simultaneously we will be updating our product lifecycle to extend the support for ThinApp 5.0 for a total of five years: three years of general support followed by two years of technical guidance.
These changes will happen at the GA of ThinApp 5.0 and reflect our desire to provide a Tier 1 application virtualization solution that our customers can adopt and implement with confidence.
Our final announcement is that the ThinApp Factory Fling will soon be moving to its own new Github location as a VMware open source contribution. We received extremely positive feedback from customers and partners who evaluated the technology. After analyzing the feedback, which was the purpose of the Fling status, it was clear that this technology has more value as a freely available tool that people can assemble and customize on their own. VMware is making the ThinApp Factory freely available and will also continue to work with partners on solutions for packaging automation and virtual package editing.
