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SoftGrid

Microsoft Officially Introduces App-V 4.5, Changes Licensing For Application Virtualization Technology Usage

September 3, 2008 by Robin Wauters Leave a Comment

App-V 4.5, formerly SoftGrid Application Virtualization, has hit “RTM” (Release To Manufacturing) status, which means that it will be available as part of the forthcoming MDOP 2008 R2 release in the next several weeks.

From TechNet:

“App-V 4.5 is a big step forward towards making application virtualization a universally deployed desktop technology. Besides changing the name and making it the first Microsoft-branded release, we’ve included new capabilities that will help IT support large-scale virtualization implementations across many sites and provides multiple delivery options, including over-the-internet application delivery. Newly added support for eleven languages makes this a truly global release. Dynamic Suite Composition (DSC) provides administrator-controlled virtual application communication and interaction, and compliance with Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing and Secure by Default initiatives – two of our most important IT security programs – was also introduced in this release. A more detailed list of technical specifics is available on the App-V blog.

While App-V 4.5 is powerful by itself, great management unleashes its true potential. As I’ve said before, management is the killer app for virtualization, and it’s also the keystone of an Optimized Desktop infrastructure. With Microsoft management tools, you’re able to see a holistic view of your entire physical and virtual infrastructure which enables you to effectively manage resources and proactively prevent problems. This is why the release of System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) 2007 R2 and the System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack for App-V 4.5 servers, and the App-V Group Policy Administrative template are so important. With these tools in hand, customers can natively integrate App-V 4.5 distribution and streaming technology into their Configuration Manager infrastructure, eliminating the need for separate tools to deploy, manage and track licenses for App-V 4.5 applications, and giving their IT departments the ability to more effectively control IT resources from a single location. Ask any IT administrator, and he or she will tell you that that’s an enormous time-saver and stress-reducer. For more technical details of how System Center and App-V work together to give IT admins easier control over their environment, visit the System Center Team Blog.

App-V 4.5 will also feature a new Service Providers License Agreement (SPLA), officially called Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Hosting for Desktops, which will enable service providers to use App-V 4.5 to deliver third-party ISV developed applications to customers via the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. SaaS powered by App-V is a key enabler to closing the “digital divide” that exists between large enterprises with robust IT capabilities, and small businesses with limited resources. By outsourcing IT functions via service providers, small businesses are able to focus less on maintaining an IT infrastructure and more on growing their core businesses, which in turn allows them to compete more effectively in the marketplace. It’s an important opportunity for businesses to optimize their desktops, even if they lack the resources to build them out in-house.

New Licensing Changes Address Tomorrow’s Challenges

The Optimized Desktop isn’t just about addressing today’s challenges. To help give IT departments the flexibility to make their Optimized Desktop infrastructure ready for the next generation of users, we’re expanding the Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) license beyond VDI to provide additional flexibility for emerging use cases in the Enterprise. This proactive licensing change, which will take effect January 1st, 2009, will enable several nascent user scenarios:

· Employee owned machines: Traditionally, computers are purchased as company assets and distributed to employees based on job function. Some companies are trialing permitting users to buy the PC of their choice with a company stipend. The changes enable early-adopter companies to let users purchase with the PC of their choice, but still perform business tasks in a secure, standard Windows Vista desktop image running in a virtual machine. IT departments can enable this scenario via VECD for $110 per PC/year.

· Contract Workers: Companies can use VECD to deploy a standard, sandboxed, Windows Vista virtual machine for use on contractor machines for $110 per PC/yr. By enabling all workers, even contractors, to work with a standard image, companies can improve productivity and reduce IT headaches by enforcing application, security, and document standards.

· Desktop-based employees who occasionally from home: VECD also enables desktop-based workers to take a local copy of their Windows Vista virtual machine to any VECD covered Windows machine at work or to take it home. VECD permits this scenario for $23 per PC /year.

Microsoft + Partners = More flexible solutions for customers
Finally, it’s important to note that the Optimized Desktop concept isn’t just a Microsoft initiative. Rather, it’s something that our vast partner community is working towards as well. They know, as do we, that by working together, we’re able to provide the most flexible, complete desktop experience possible. That’s why I am proud that Citrix, one of Microsoft’s longest standing partners, will release a new version of Citrix® XenDesktop™ desktop virtualization solution that will integrate with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (SCVMM) for quick provisioning and intelligent placement of virtual machines, and enable Windows Vista desktops to run on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V. This integration is another example of how Microsoft and Citrix partnering to provide server hosted desktops and providing users with deployment choice as part of an Optimized Desktop strategy.

You’re probably thinking to yourself “Wow! That’s a lot of news!”, and you’d be right! But if you step back just a bit, you’ll see the real picture come into focus. This isn’t a series of isolated announcements; it’s a unified set of important advancements that drive the value – and the promise – of an Optimized Desktop as part of our broader virtualization strategy from the desktop to the datacenter. With today’s announcements, and the announcements that you’ll see from us in the coming weeks, Microsoft is moving forward and delivering on its promise to provide customers with a suite of virtualization, management and licensing options that truly optimize their computing experience by delivering scenarios that strike the right balance of end-user flexibility and productivity and IT Pro management and control.”

Microsoft

Microsoft TechNet

[Source: All About Microsoft]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: app virtualization, App-V, App-V 4.5, App-V 4.5 RTM, application virtualization, Hyper-V, microsoft, Microsoft App-V, Microsoft App-V 4.5, Microsoft App-V 4.5 RTM, Microsoft Application Virtualization, MSAV, RTM, SoftGrid, SoftGrid App-V, softricity, virtualisation, virtualization

Application Virtualization Comparison Chart

June 20, 2008 by Robin Wauters 3 Comments

Sven Huisman and his coworker Matthijs Haverink were unable to find a good comparative list of application virtualization solutions, so they mocked up a useful chart of their own. The chart includes:

  • Microsoft Softgrid 4.2 (now called Microsoft Application Virtualization of which the 4.5 RC was shipped yesterday or App-V for short)
  • VMware ThinApp
  • Installfree Bridge
  • Citrix Application streaming
  • Symantec Appstream
  • Xenocode Virtual Application Studio

You can download the chart here, courtesy of the technical consultants.

[Source: ICT-Freak]

Filed Under: Featured, Guest Posts Tagged With: App-V, application virtualization, Citrix Application streaming, comparison, comparison chart, Installfree Bridge, Matthijs Haverink, Microsoft Application Virtualization, Microsoft SoftGrid, Microsoft Softgrid 4.2, SoftGrid, Sven Huisman, Symantec Appstream, virtualisation, virtualization, VMware ThinApp, Xenocode Virtual Application Studio

Microsoft Ships Application Virtualization 4.5 Release Candidate

June 18, 2008 by Robin Wauters 2 Comments

Fresh after sharing the new short name for Microsoft Application Virtualization (SoftGrid became App-V), the MAV team has released the version 4.5 Release Candidate of the software.

So what’s new?

HTTP streaming. We now support streaming virtual applications from an IIS server (version 6 or 7). This will provide dramatic performance and scalability improvements for customers with large App-V deployments. In addition, the use of a more familiar protocol will make some deployments easier and more straight forward.

New Sequencer UI. We have greatly simplified the use of the Sequencer. There is now a single wizard for creating a new package and advanced settings have been put into an optional screen. In addition, enhancements have been made that will make editing packages even easier.

Dynamic Suite Composition (DSC) for MSI packages
. We introduced two great features with our Beta release – Dynamic Suite Composition and the ability to create MSI packages directly from the Sequencer. DSC allows the flexibility to control virtual application interaction. Creating MSI packages directly from the sequencer eliminates the need for a server environment when deploying virtual applications. But, it was a little difficult to use both DSC and MSI together with the Beta release. With the RC release, you can now dynamically suite two MSI packages together by following a few simple steps.

Improved integration with SCCM 2007 R2
. With the upcoming release of the Release Candidate version of SCCM 2007 R2, the ability to deploy virtual applications via SCCM will be seamless for SCCM administrators. Virtual applications can now be streamed via HTTP so that deployments can scale. Also, a new wizard will make the process of sending out package upgrades to users simple and straightforward.

Reporting
. Application usage information is now recorded locally on each client and then sent to a App-V Management Server during Publishing Refresh. This means that offline usage of applications or usage of applications when streaming from different sources is now all accounted for properly in the App-V database. We are also providing new guidance so that customers can run their own customized reports.

New Manageability tools
. We’ve added a OpsMgr 2007 Management Pack to improve the monitoring capabilities of your App-V servers. We’ve added a ADM template to make it simpler to manage common client configurations via group policy. Finally, we’ve created a VSS Writer so that backups of the App-V server can leverage the latest technology.

Client cache improvements. The maximum size of the client cache has been increased to 1 TB. We also introduced a feature that allows for least recently used applications to be removed from cache should it become full and a user is trying to add a new application. Also, we’re created some perfmon counters to make it easier to monitor the state of the cache.

New MSI package capability. As mentioned above, the ability to create MSI packages directly from the Sequencer was introduced in our Beta release. However, the application was required to be used in an “offline” way, such that no connectivity to servers was needed. Customers told us they like the ability to do just the publishing of application shortcuts, icons and file type associations via the MSI, but they wanted the ability to still stream applications to their clients and to deliver package updates this way, too. With the RC release, this is now possible via a new command line parameter that does just this publishing activity.

Accessibility
. The product is now Section 508 compliant, bringing App-V in line with other Microsoft products.

Documentation. As part of the RC, we have updated the online help that is included with the product. In addition, we are releasing a Planning and Deployment Guide and a FAQ for Upgrading to Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5.

You can download App-V 4.5 from Microsoft Connect. You need a Windows Live ID.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: App-V, App-V 4.5 Release Candidate, application virtualization, microsoft, Microsoft App-V, Microsoft App-V 4.5 Release Candidate, Microsoft Application Virtualization, Microsoft SoftGrid, SoftGrid, virtualisation, virtualization

App-V, The “Microsoft Application Virtualization” Formerly Known As “SoftGrid”

June 16, 2008 by Robin Wauters 2 Comments

Microsoft Application Virtualization, the name the software giant has given the app virtualization solution it acquired when it bought Softricity back in 2006, got a new calling name today to match the Hyper-V branding: App-V (instead of SoftGrid).

From the SoftGrid App-V blog:

“Really it only matters to you because from now on we’re going to do our best to stop calling this product SoftGrid and start calling it App-V. Or Microsoft Application Virtualization if we’re feeling formal. This blog will eventually go from being the SoftGrid blog to the App-V blog, the SoftGrid forums will probably become the App-V forums, etc. and I want to make sure all of you are ahead of the curve just so there’s no confusion when you start seeing this name thrown around more and more over time.”

On a sidenote: looking for App-V references, we also found out a German snatched away the app-v.com domain name a few days ago.

[Source: ThinComputing.net]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: app virtualization, App-V, application virtualization, branding, Hyper-V, microsoft, Microsoft App-V, Microsoft Application Virtualization, MSAV, naming, SoftGrid, SoftGrid App-V, softricity, virtualisation, virtualization

AspenTech Releases aspenONE 2006.5, Integrates Microsoft Application Virtualization

April 16, 2008 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

Aspen Technology, provider of software and services to the process industries, today announced that aspenONE version 2006.5 uses the latest Microsoft technologies to simplify IT rollout and management. The integration of aspenONE with Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Office Excel, and SoftGrid Application Virtualization supports IT standards, speeds time to deployment, and extends the reach of aspenONE within operations for improved manufacturing performance.

AspenTech

“aspenONE makes it possible to solve the difficult challenge of optimizing manufacturing performance in complex process industries such as energy, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. By incorporating the latest Microsoft technologies into the integrated suite of aspenONE applications, AspenTech enables process manufacturers to take full advantage of our combined technology solutions across the enterprise,” said Chris Colyer, Microsoft Director of Worldwide Manufacturing Operations.

aspenONE Process Engineering now supports Microsoft Application Virtualization, an engine that turns applications into centrally managed virtual services delivered on-demand. This enables IT departments to accelerate the deployment of engineering applications by more than 50 %. The applications are installed only once, rather than once per desktop, and can be deployed to groups of users more quickly and maintained more easily. In addition, for project-based companies and departments, virtualization also allows different versions of the same applications to run concurrently on the same machine.

[Source: press release (PDF)]

Filed Under: News, Partnerships Tagged With: application virtualization, Aspen Technology, aspenONE, aspenONE 2006.5, AspenTech, microsoft, Microsoft Application Virtualization, SoftGrid, SoftGrid Application Virtualization, virtualisation, virtualization

Microsoft Acquires Desktop Virtualization Software Maker Kidaro

March 12, 2008 by Robin Wauters 1 Comment

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Kidaro, a young company that helps businesses manage their collection of virtual machines. The financial details involved in the acquisition of the startup, which counts 35 employees, remained undisclosed, although Valleywag is calling it around $ 100 million.

virtualization-desktop-microsoft-kidaro.jpg

According to CNET’s Ina Fried, Microsoft said the technology will make it easier for businesses to manage application compatibility challenges, ultimately spurring faster Vista adoption as well as broadening the use of virtual machines within enterprises.

“The challenge we have with Virtual PC today is it doesn’t have enterprise-level management and deployment with it and the user experience could be improved,” said Gavriella Schuster, a senior director in Microsoft’s Windows unit.

Schuster said that Kidaro’s technology helps on both scores. In addition to tools for setting up and managing virtual machines, Kidaro has technology that makes virtual machines less jarring for users, making them appear to be part of the standard desktop.

Kidaro’s technology will be added to a future version of Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack. The collection of tools is sold as an add-on to Microsoft’s Software Assurance program for volume license customers. Other things in the collection include an application virtualization technology known as SoftGrid and asset management tools that stem from Microsoft’s AssetMetrix acquisition.

While perhaps not a mainstream way for businesses to move to Vista, Schuster said Microsoft thinks some companies will find it more palatable with Kidaro’s tools to run older, Vista incompatible applications via a Windows XP virtual machine.

Update – from the Windows Virtualization Team Blog:

I’m told that the three founders of Kidaro will be joining Microsoft and play similar roles here, and that the plan is to keep Kidaro’s R&D team in Israel. That makes sense since Microsoft already has an R&D center in Israel.

So if you’re keeping track, this acquisition is roughly 45 days after we announced the acquisition of Calista Technologies.

[Source: Techmeme]

Filed Under: Acquisitions, Featured Tagged With: AssetMetrix, desktop virtualization, Gavriella Schuster, Kidaro, Kidaro Managed Workspace, microsoft, Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, Microsoft Software Assurance, SoftGrid, Virtual PC, virtualisation, virtualization, Vista, Vista virtualization, windows vista

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