Microsoft Application Virtualization Usability | Parallels RAS

What is Microsoft Application Virtualization

When an application is virtualized, its essential components are already recorded and dynamically created on target computers as needed. Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V).

Microsoft App-V, often known as “Application Virtualization,” is an element of the desktop and server operating systems that enables the separation and isolation of the operating system’s installed programs. For these virtualized apps, App-V also functions as a centralized delivery system that boosts delivery speed using streaming technologies.

Is Microsoft Application Virtualization the best solution?

Microsoft Application Virtualization a.k.a. App-V is a great solution for reducing IT operational costs and simplifying endpoint administration. However, it has a few limitations. Let’s talk about what those limitations are and discuss a viable option to overcome them.

Microsoft Application Virtualization in a nutshell

Microsoft Application Virtualization is a Microsoft feature that publishes applications to end devices to allow users to access them remotely without having to install those apps on their machines physically. Put simply, App-V creates applications that users can execute in virtualized environments.

To publish these apps on the end-devices, Microsoft Application Virtualization uses a process that’s popularly called sequencing the application. Under this process, App-V monitors all the setup and installation requirements of an application and records it in a virtualized environment.

After sequencing and deployment, the app does not interact with an underlying OS since it is virtualized and isolated from other programs running on that computer. By separating the app’s requirements from that of its underlying OS, App-V dramatically minimizes conflicts for faster pre-deployment testing.

Why it’s great for businesses

Microsoft Microsoft Application Virtualization’s ability to package and stream applications from a central location to endpoint devices can be beneficial to businesses who need to manage lots of devices, or it can provide virtual work spaces to telecommuting workers.

1. It’s faster and cheaper

The process of provisioning applications, especially when done to a large number of endpoint devices, is much faster and cheaper with Microsoft Application Virtualization . Traditional application deployments can take weeks or months, while App-V application provisioning takes only hours. This helps businesses save time and money.

2. It’s efficient for the management of resources

Secondly, because App-V applications are centrally managed, IT administrators have greater control over the level of access and usage those workers can have on each virtualized application. Also, it makes upgrades and testing easier.

3. It eliminates conflicts and compatibility issues

App-V virtualizes applications so that they run in their own sandbox. This can minimize or even eliminates conflicts and compatibility issues with other applications running on the same device. You’ll be better placed to reduce administrative and tech support overheads.

4. The right applications are shipped to end-users

Packaging apps for automated deployment and configuration to end devices is tedious and time-consuming. Microsoft Application Virtualization can help you save time by only packaging those apps that a user needs on a particular device as opposed to the entire list of applications. By shipping the right applications to end-users, you minimize cost and complexities involved in package deployment and configurations.

Limitations of App-V

While the App-V technology appears revolutionary in so far as applications sequencing is concerned, Microsoft Application Virtualization has the following limitations:

App-V applications can’t run on non-Windows endpoints. You can’t run App-V applications on other platforms such as Mac OS or Linux desktops/laptops.
App-V applications can’t run on mobile devices. That can be a show-stopper for organizations with a highly heterogeneous network.
App-V cannot virtualize a computer running some applications such as Microsoft SQL Server Express edition.

Overcome the Microsoft Application Virtualization limitations with Parallels RAS

By deploying Parallels® Remote Application Server (RAS), you can overcome those limitations and implement a virtualization solution to grow your organization. Not only does Parallels RAS integrate with App-V (meaning, you can have ALL the benefits that come with App-V), but it’s also capable of delivering applications to any device, including Mac OS, Linux, iOS, Android and even Chrome OS devices. That means you gain significant economic and operational benefits.

Grab your evaluation 30-day period of Parallels RAS today and acquire the benefits of Microsoft Application Virtualization plus much more.

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