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might be nice to post something a bit more recent along with some answers…and some bonus questions.

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1. What is the recommended deployment method for ThinApp packages?

ThinApp is a flexible solution. Virtualized application packages may be deployed using portable devices as small as a USB flash drive,
manually copied or executed from a network server, or automated using an enterprise electronic software deployment (ESD) platform of Categories
your choice.
App Volumes (1)
1. (Alternate) What is the most common method to deploy ThinApp packaged applications?
Applications (48)
While this might depend upon whom you ask this of, here in the U.S. the most common deployment option for ThinApp packages is via a AppLink (5)
network accessible ThinApp package repository.
Shortcuts to ThinApp EXEs are presented to end users via logon scripts which utilizes the ThinReg utility. Remember, ThinReg will register AppSync (11)
applications (including their file type associations, protocols, and COM objects defined) as well as create shortcuts in the user’s start FAQs (21)
menu, desktop or wherever they’ve been defined to be created.
Horizon (8)
ThinReg will honor any Active Directory Security Groups (including nested) defined within the ThinApp packaged app. Horizon Workspace (4)

Now, all of this said, I'm told "across the pond" in Europe the most common deployment mechanism is via MSI through a 3rd party ESD. Integration (31)
This is also a nice feature as any ThinApp built into an MSI can be incorporated into any 3rd party ESD solution. Internet Explorer (15)
2. Can ThinApp packages run on Linux or Mac Platforms? Isolation (6)
MSI (16)
Not directly, however, one can login to a View Desktop or other type of system remotely and execute a ThinApp packaged application
just like any other application. Office (14)
Package.ini (13)
3. Are there any size limitations to a ThinApp package? Scripts (22)

No. There are no size limitations of the ThinApp packaged app. Any limitations are going to be a restriction determined by the Windows ThinApp Documentation (1)
OS the ThinApp packaged application is being executed upon. ThinApp Factory (9)

To add some detail to this, there are issues when packaging an app into a single EXE of a certain size (or larger) which vary based upon ThinApp Releases (10)
the version of Windows the ThinApp packaged app is being executed on. ThinDirect (1)
Tips (105)
For example…
Tools (12)
Windows XP has an EXE size limitation of 512MB. Troubleshooting (28)
Windows Vista (and potentially Win 7) has an EXE size limitation of 2GB.
Uncategorized (3)
View (2)
An EXE larger than the allotted size may have issues such as trouble displaying it's icon, may take an excessively long time to launch due
to loading of the large EXE (or due to the Anti-virus solution scanning the EXE), or may even have issues just launching due to the VMware User Environment
enormity of the EXE. Manager (UEM) (1)
VMworld (3)
Fortunately, ThinApp provides a solution to these operating system .EXE size issues by allowing a ThinApp packaged application to exist
not only as single EXE applications but as multiple exe applications as well by use of a very large Primary Data Container – for example a VOS (3)
.DAT file – and a very small Entry Point executable file (or files).

Note: Think of Office as an example here. In fact, here's a screen shot of my ThinApp'ed Office showing multiple Entry Points and a single
large Primary Data Container (.DAT) file. Next Steps

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4. Can ThinApp integrate with 3rd party packaging solutions? If so, which?

Yes. You should be able to integrate ThinApp packaged applications into any 3rd party packaging solution. Community
5. What applications can be packaged using ThinApp? Discussions and resources for
VMware ThinApp
While ThinApp has an industry leading 90-95% packaging success rate, VMware does not currently maintain a list of applications which Visit now
can or cannot be packaged as there are just too many applications out there. A good place to check, however, is the ThinApp
Communities Portal – which is where many ThinApp Community members post recipes, instructions, comments, and even issues seen
when packaging their specific apps.

VMware does not set nor enforce any application packaging success criteria, which means customers and Independent Software ThinApp Twitter Accounts
Vendors (ISVs) are free to establish success criteria themselves. Nearly any application can be successfully packaged using ThinApp,
although the variability lies in the amount of time needed in the packaging effort for testing and troubleshooting.
   
ThinApp can package 32-bit applications as well as 16-bit applications (both 16-bit Win and 16-bit DOS apps). Follow @SquidlyMan

   
NOTE: 16-bit applications cannot be executed on 64-bit platforms due to an OS limitation. ThinApp does NOT support 64-bit apps at this Follow @ThinAppFactory
time.    
Follow @Heath_Doerr
6. What would prevent an application from being virtualized?
   
Follow @thepeb
Before answering this, it should be noted every true application virtualization product or solution has these four issues or “gray
   
areas” as they are not limited to ThinApp specifically. Follow @ThinApp_PSO

   
Drivers – Drivers cannot be virtualized as they are Windows OS Level controlled components which must interface with a logical or Follow @thinappguru
physical device. Applications which install drivers, however, may still be virtualized with ThinApp as the drivers can usually be
installed natively to the OS while the rest of the application remains virtualized. Adobe Pro is a great example of this as the Print-to-
PDF driver cannot be virtualized but the rest of Adobe Pro can still be packaged with ThinApp. If the driver is installed natively, the
virtualized Adobe Pro can still utilize the driver and will automatically enable the functionality based upon if it sees the driver YouTube
installed.
   
COM Plus – COM Plus objects cannot be virtualized as they are Windows OS Level controlled components (ThinApp can virtualize
COM objects). The same thing goes for COM Plus objects as for drivers – if the COM Plus objects can be installed to the native OS, VMware
2,071 videos
it is likely the rest of the application can still be virtualized with ThinApp.
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Network DCOM – Network DCOM objects cannot be virtualized as there are two sides to Network DCOM objects – a local and a
remote side. ThinApp cannot virtualize the REMOTE side. If the Network DCOM objects are installed natively to the OS, it is likely
the application can still be virtualized. Now, it should be noted, ThinApp can virtualize DCOM – a.k.a. Local DCOM.

Windows Components – ThinApp does not support virtualizing some OS Level Windows components such as DNS (client/server),    VMware ThinApp Video Playlist
»
DHCP (client/server), WINS (client/server), IIS, etc. This is due to the fact these components are operating at a very low level within
the OS to the point where they are utilizing drivers or components or other OS level hooking technology to link into things such as
the the network stack or other things. ThinApp can (and does) virtualize Internet Explorer and .NET FrameWork components just
fine. Archives
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7. What types of customers are currently using ThinApp?

ThinApp virtualized applications are in use in many industries, including healthcare (and even rigorously regulated FDA environments),
education, financial services, government, insurance, manufacturing, and more.
VMware Social Media
8. Can ThinApp integrate with a Citrix Infrastructure?
VMware Blogs
Absolutely! In fact ThinApp'ed applications will help reduce your Citrix server footprint by solving application incompatibilities within the
VMware Twitter Accounts
Citrix XenApp (a.k.a. MetaFrame, Presentation Server, WinFrame) server – thus eliminating the need for the server silos.
VMware Facebook Pages
9. How does ThinApp compare to it’s competitors? VMware Google+ Pages
ThinApp provides the flexibility to determine if a packaging effort is justified based on some legacy application platforms. For example, VMware LinkedIn Groups
ThinApp has the ability to take a Windows 2000-based legacy application, capture it, and create a package which can be run in a newer
Windows OS such as XP, Vista, or 2003. However, the ability to run applications designed for older versions of Windows on a newer VMware YouTube Channels
version of Windows is not supported by all application virtualization solutions on the market today. VMware Podcasts
Because ThinApp packages operate in 100% user mode, normal context switching performance issues are eliminated. Other application
virtualization solutions typically operate in kernel mode from both an agent and application perspective and therefore affect context
switching performance.
VMware Blogs
ThinApp is one of the only agentless application virtualization solutions. Other solutions typically require an agent – which can break.
Incidentally, this is also why ThinApp can integrate into any other management solution (i.e. TIVOLI, SMS/SCCM, etc.). » All VMware Blogs RSS

Note: A broken Agent/Client means no apps and possibilities for a BSOD. Company
» VMworld RSS
» VMware Radius RSS
» Office of the CTO RSS
10. How do I monitor the usage of ThinApp packaged apps? » CIO Exchange RSS
» VMware Careers RSS
Monitoring and metering of ThinApp packaged apps can be accomplished identically to natively installed applications. While ThinApp is » Virtual Reality RSS
solely an application virtualization solution, it should be noted ThinApp can plug in to any existing Metering/Monitoring solution in » VMTN Community RSS
existence. If you don't have one in existence in your network environment, a recommended 3rd party solution is Concept Software’s » VMware {code} RSS
SoftwareKey Metering Solution developed specifically to work with ThinApp and it’s agentless architecture. » Open Source RSS
» VMware Research RSS
» VMware Pulse IoT RSS
» Transform Security RSS
» VMware on VMware RSS
What’s the one question missing here?

“Will my ThinApp’ed app work on Windows 7?” SDDC & Cloud

» VMware Cloud
Answer: The current release of VMware ThinApp (version 4.0.4) doesn’t “Officially” support Windows 7. However, there are “experimental » vSphere RSS
» Performance RSS
capabilities” for Win 7 so you may find your ThinApp packaged application may work on Win 7 once it is rebuilt with ThinApp 4.0.4. It » PowerCLI RSS
should be noted, the application does not need to be recaptured, only rebuilt with current version of ThinApp. So save your ThinApp » Security & Compliance RSS
projects! » NSX / Network Virt RSS
» VeloCloud by VMware RSS
UPDATE!:  Since the release of ThinApp 4.5, ThinApp has officially supported Windows 7.  With the upcoming release of the next version » vSAN / Virtual Blocks RSS
of ThinApp after 4.5, as seen in the "Internet Explorer 6 on Windows 7" article, ThinApp should also be able to support Internet Explorer 6 » Cloud Mgmt RSS
on Windows 7! » Cloud Foundation RSS
» vCloud RSS
» vCloud Toolkit RSS
Cool Tips » Cloud-Native Apps RSS
» OpenStack (VIO) RSS
» Virtualize Applications RSS
The same "rebuild only" solution goes for applications built with a Trial license of ThinApp. Once a valid full license is installed, just rebuild
the ThinApp project and redeploy it.
End-User Computing
» End-User Computing RSS
See the ThinApp Blog article on How to Change Your ThinApp License. » AirWatch RSS
» VMware Workstation RSS
» VMware Fusion RSS
» Socialcast RSS
So there you have it. These are the most common questions we get from customers today. Additional “Frequently Asked Questions” and
answers can be found in the ThinApp FAQ located here. Support
» VMware KB Digest RSS
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This entry was posted in FAQs, Tips, Troubleshooting and tagged FAQs, Questions on December 21, 2009 by Dean Flaming.
Education & Consulting
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About Dean Flaming Partners
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Dean is currently an EUC Architect and member of the VMware End User Computing Enablement and Lighthouse » Partner News RSS
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Support teams, working to develop communications and IP around VMware End User Computing products and
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solutions as well as support many various Lighthouse accounts with their own EUC practices. Prior to this, from 2008 » All Industry Solutions RSS
through 2012 Dean was one of VMware’s End User Computing Specialists. Throughout his time at VMware, Dean has » Education RSS
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also written and published various articles, videos, and podcasts regarding VMware’s EUC Solutions. » Government RSS
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View all posts by Dean Flaming → » Retail RSS
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