VMware ThinApp (formerly ''Thinstall'') is an
application virtualization
Application virtualization is a software technology that encapsulates computer programs from the underlying operating system on which they are executed. A fully virtualized application is not installed in the traditional sense, although it is sti ...
and
portable application creator suite by
VMware that can package conventional Windows applications
into
portable application
A portable application (portable app), sometimes also called standalone software, is a computer program designed to operate without changing other files or requiring other software to be installed. In this way, it can be easily added to, run, ...
s capable of running on another operating system. According to VMware, the product has a success rate of about 90–95% in packaging applications.
History
ThinApp (previously known as Thinstall) was originally developed by Jitit Inc. and was acquired by
VMware on January 15, 2008. VMware later used the code name ''VMware Project North Star'' while the product was in
beta
Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; or ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive . In Modern Greek, it represe ...
. On June 10, 2008, VMware announced that the final name for the product was going to be ''VMware ThinApp''. The trial version of ''Thinstall'' was initially available only to corporations, then VMware offered a public
trial version.
Technology
VMware ThinApp provides
application virtualization
Application virtualization is a software technology that encapsulates computer programs from the underlying operating system on which they are executed. A fully virtualized application is not installed in the traditional sense, although it is sti ...
. ThinApp is able to execute applications without them being installed in the traditional sense by virtualizing resources such as environment variables, files and
Windows Registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores low-level settings for the Microsoft Windows operating system and for applications that opt to use the registry. The kernel, device drivers, services, Security Accounts Manager, a ...
keys. The virtual environment shown to the client combines both physical and virtual resources, making it appear to the application as if it were fully installed and running. ThinApp does not have any pre-installed components and does not require the installation of device drivers allowing applications to run from
USB flash drives
A flash drive (also thumb drive, memory stick, and pen drive/pendrive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. A typical USB drive is removable, rewritable, and smaller than an optical disc, and ...
or network shares without ever requiring Administrator rights. ThinApp converts standard application installers such as .msi files into self-contained EXE files, which includes everything required to run. Also it is able to scan a system before and after an application's installation and create a portable executable based upon changes made to the systems files and registry. Unlike self-extracting ZIP files, ThinApp does not extract files to disk or require system registry changes in order to run applications. ThinApp versions released after 5.2.3 drop support Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 and later.
Editions
The most "basic" version of ThinApp is "VMware ThinApp Starter Edition", offered for free with any purchase of
VMware Workstation
VMware Workstation Pro (known as VMware Workstation until release of VMware Workstation 12 in 2015) is a hosted (Type 2) hypervisor that runs on x64 versions of Windows and Linux operating systems. It enables users to set up virtual machines (VM ...
,
while the most "advanced" version is "VMware ThinApp Enterprise Edition", which adds support for ''AppSync updating'', ''
Active Directory
Active Directory (AD) is a directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. Windows Server operating systems include it as a set of processes and services. Originally, only centralized domain management used Active Direct ...
integration'' and allows usage by multiple users (both for the ''ThinApp Packager'' and ''ThinApp Client'').
See also
*
Microsoft App-V
*
Turbo (software)
Turbo (formerly Spoon and Xenocode) is a set of software products and services developed by the Code Systems Corporation for application virtualization, portable application creation, and digital distribution. Code Systems Corporation is an A ...
*
Software appliance
A software appliance is a software application combined with just enough operating system (JeOS) to run optimally on industry-standard hardware (typically a server) or in a virtual machine. It is a software distribution or firmware that impleme ...
*
Windows To Go
Windows To Go was a feature in Windows 8 Enterprise, Windows 8.1 Enterprise, Windows 10 Education Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 11 versions prior to the May 2020 update, that allows the system to boot and run from certain USB mass storag ...
*
Sandboxie
*
Portable application creators
Portable application creators allow the creation of portable applications (also called portable apps). They usually use application virtualization.
Creators of independent portable
No agent or client is required for these (also called " agent ...
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.vmware.com/products/thinapp/
ThinApp
Virtualization software
Utilities for Windows