vmware thinapp

[chrisredfield93]

VMware ThinApp for Application Virtualization: Get Ready for Windows 7 Migration

 

Is anyone using this? or played around with it

 

As I could gather from a youtube clip with this program. you install this program then you run it, once it loaded you you can take a snapshot of all the files and regisrty entries that are on the computer, then install any application of your choice then run a snap shot mode again to compare the two and it put it all in one location and then you unistall the old software and then you build the file to make a .exe of the program you installed but only creates or virtualise the files all in one location, and you can take this to use on any computer which dont leave any traces, it only has problems if the appliation is tied to the hardware.

 

if i wrong please coomment and looking for a freeware alternative

[Arthur]

I have used the demo version of ThinApp and it's really good, but sadly the licenses are too expensive for our school (~£13,500). Each computer you want to run a ThinApp'd program on requires a client license.

 

You are almost correct in the way it works. You don't need to uninstall the application before building the EXE because you would normally create the package within a VM (VMware Workstation, VirtualBox etc.) where you can use snapshots to rollback the OS to a clean state ready for the next package. The thing I really like about ThinApp is that you can use it to create packages where the settings revert back to the ones you originally set once the application is closed by the user. It also makes it really easy to run different versions of the same program side-by-side (e.g. Office 2003 and 2010) or even apps which can't be installed on newer operating systems such as IE6 on Windows 7.

 

Looking for a freeware alternative

There isn't one unfortunately. The closest you could get to free, would be App-V if you had a volume licensing agreement with Microsoft. This works slightly differently to ThinApp, but the end result is pretty much the same.

[jcs808]

I've used the demo and liked it too. I'm struggling though to find a supplier, locally anyway, who can quote me as I'm not looking to cover our whole site but just a few classrooms which use some problomatic software titles.

 

Could anyone give me a supplier I could contact.

[Arthur]

Could anyone give me a supplier I could contact.

You should be able to find a local supplier using VMware's Partner Locator. When I last looked at ThinApp last year, I think I got prices from ACS in Northampton.

[bio]

We have excellent experiences with vmware's thinapp (we bought it when it was called thinstall). We all know what crappy educational software can do. But amazingly we could virtualize 95% of all education software with this program. Only softwre that ties to the hardware. Thus software that needs drivers or virtual printers like adobe PDF printer could not be virtualized.

I agree its rather pricy. But i think managers should see the big picture in this. Less software problems ( our service desk saw a 70% reduce in software related problems) Less FTE needed on application support. Apps can easily be migrated to new file server. For dutch educational schools one can contact slim for a serious reduced price in vmware related products.

 

regards

bio..

[carvjo]

I've used Thinapp - it is very good and the latest version will create 'packaged' applications that will often run on Windows 7, though they were created on XP and visa-versa.

 

It is really most useful for small applications: e.g. I've thinapped MS Office 2007 - though it works, it is hellish slow to load and move around some of the menus.. but some of those 'Nelson Thornes' titles that need the right versions of flash and java work a treat - flash and java can be built into the package negating the need to mess around with a compromise on the OS build to get those picky apps to run..

 

Using Thinapp is simple - run 'Setup Capture' - to create a baseline - then install the application and any dependancies it may need - run setup capture again to create the changes files - then 'build' the application package..

 

There is no need to install any client - but applications can be registered with 'thinreg' so your computer knows about file associations etc..

 

VMware do offer some education discount - Ingenyx are the people we use for our VMWare - they seem quite good at getting educational pricing that some of the bigger box shifters struggle with..

 

Thinapp includes VMWare workstation (or used to?) - as the recommended method for creating packages is on a clean machine - and reverting to a clean snapshot to clean up the build PC after each install is easiest this way..

[carvjo]

One note of caution - I've seen Anti-Virus apps give 'false-positives' to Thinapped packages and stick the entire library in a virus vault..

[Theblacksheep]

anyone got autocad 2009 working with thinapp?

[carvjo]

You need ThinApp 4.0.4 or later - this was the release with the fixes for Autocad

[chrisredfield93]

is there a trial i can obtain? which dont require me filling any info in or a trial product key?

[Theblacksheep]

Trial?

 

Yes 60 day trial: https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/?p=vmware-thinapp&lp=1

 

Doesn't require you filling in information?

 

No.

[teejay]

Doesn't Microsofts App-V do the same sort of thing? If you're on a school agreement it's free as part of the desktop optimisation pack.