VMware ThinApp

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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (September 2008)

VMware ThinApp


Design by	VMware
Developed by	VMware
Latest release	4.0.0 (build 2200) / 16 July 2008; 124 days ago
OS	Windows
Size	~7 MB
Development status	Active
Type	Application virtualization
License	Commercial, Proprietary
Website	www.vmware.com/products/thinapp

VMware ThinApp (formerly Thinstall) is an application virtualization suite by VMware that can package conventional applications so that they become portable applications.

1 History
2 Technology
3 Software compatibility
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

History

Thinstall was originally developed by Thinstall Inc. but on January 15, 2008, VMware acquired Thinstall.^[1] VMware later used the code name VMware Project North Star while the product was in beta.^[2] On June 10, 2008, VMware announced that the final name for the product was going to be VMware ThinApp.^[3] The trial version of Thinstall was initially available only to corporations^[4], however VMware now offers a public trial.^[5]

Technology

VMware ThinApp is an application virtualization solution.^[6] As with similar products from other vendors, it 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.

Software compatibility

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

Any software that requires a device driver to function^[7]
Software with copy protection based on hardware
Software already bundled with Windows and not available as a separated package (like Windows Picture and Fax Viewer)
Any software that cannot run on the underlying operating system due to memory-related application compatibility issues (e.g. Applications that fail Heap Protection under Windows Vista^[8])