VMware ThinApp

ThinApp (previously known as Thinstall) was originally developed by Jitit Inc. and was acquired by VMware on January 15, 2008.{{cite press release|url=http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/thinstall.html|title=VMware to Expand Desktop Virtualization Solution with Acquisition of Thinstall|date=January 15, 2008|access-date=2008-06-11|publisher=VMware}} VMware later used the code name VMware Project North Star while the product was in beta.{{cite web|url=http://communities.vmware.com/community/beta/northstar|title=VMware ThinApp (Project North Star/Thinstall) Release Candidate|date=June 10, 2008|access-date=2008-06-11|publisher=VMware|archive-date=2012-08-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828005904/http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/desktop/thinapp|url-status=dead}} On June 10, 2008, VMware announced that the final name for the product was going to be VMware ThinApp.{{cite press release|url=http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/thinapp_4.html|title=VMware Launches ThinApp 4.0 to Run Virtually Any Application on Any Windows Operating System without Conflict by raju|date=June 10, 2008|access-date=2008-06-11|publisher=VMware|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612135439/http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/thinapp_4.html|archive-date=June 12, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} The trial version of Thinstall was initially available only to corporations,{{cite web |url=http://www.thinstall.com/products/virtualization_suite_dl.php |title=VMware ThinApp Application Virtualization Platform: IT Management Solutions |publisher=Thinstall.com |access-date=2009-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312070738/http://www.thinstall.com/products/virtualization_suite_dl.php |archive-date=2009-03-12 |url-status=dead }} then VMware offered a public trial version.{{cite web|url=http://www.vmware.com/go/trythinapp|title=Evaluate VMware ThinApp|publisher=VMware|access-date=2008-08-09}}

VMware ThinApp provides application virtualization.{{cite web|url=http://www.vmware.com/pdf/thinapp_intro.pdf|title=Introduction to VMware ThinApp|date=2008-06-26|access-date=2008-08-05|publisher=VMware}} 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 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 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.{{cite book |url=https://www.vmware.com/pdf/thinapp51_manual.pdf |title=ThinApp User's Guide: ThinApp 5.1 |publisher=VMware |date=10 December 2014}}

{{update|section|date=December 2015}}

The most "basic" version of ThinApp is "VMware ThinApp Starter Edition", offered for free with any purchase of VMware Workstation,{{cite web| url=http://www.vmware.com/products/workstation/thinapp-starter-edition.html| access-date=2023-12-22 | title=VMware Workstation Pro}}{{cite web|url=http://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2010/11/buy-vmware-workstation-7-get-vmware-thinapp-starter-edition-for-free.html|title=Buy VMware Workstation 7, Get VMware ThinApp Starter Edition For Free!|work=vmware.com}} while the most "advanced" version is "VMware ThinApp Enterprise Edition", which adds support for AppSync updating, Active Directory integration and allows usage by multiple users (both for the ThinApp Packager and ThinApp Client).

• Microsoft App-V
• Turbo (software)
• Software appliance
• Windows To Go
• Sandboxie
• Portable application creators

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.vmware.com/products/thinapp/}}

ThinApp

Category:Virtualization software

Category:Utilities for Windows