Jumpstart Your Windows 7 Initiatives
Window 7 is on the top of mind for many users and IT alike. What is the impact? Will I have to purchase new hardware? What do I do if my hardware is not compatible with the new XP Mode required to run some of my legacy applications?
Know the GAPs – Hardware Compatability
Hardware compatibility should be a concern but it is definitely not a show stopper for planning your Win 7 deployments. Some legacy hardware may not be able to support the requirements needed for the XP Mode feature to work. In particular – IT will need to ensure that the processor virtualization capabilities are supported and can be turned on within the hardware itself. For example, Sony has recently announced they will be blocking this feature on VAIO laptops.
Viable Alternatives – Package Once, Deploy Everywhere
Although XP Mode is a viable option – what do you do when it is not available? Windows 7 can still be deployed by leveraging viable options that enable applications to run across multiple OS versions – including Win 7. With hardware virtualization disabled, VAIO users won't be able to take advantage of virtual XP but they can certainly take advantage of Application Virtualization to achieve the same goal (running legacy applications on a Win 7 OS. InstallFree's application virtualization allows users to virtualize their applications, streaming them down to any host operating system (XP, Vista, Windows 7.) This process eliminates application/operating system compatibility issues, and even allows multiple versions of the same program ( for example, Word 2003 and Word 2007) to run simultaneously on the same machine.
Not All Application Virtualization is the SAME
When you are considering alternative solutions such as application virtualization – be sure to plan ahead and understand what the impact to your Windows 7 environment is going to be. There are 3 generations of architectures – the first 2 are OS dependant and may require that you repackage ALL your applications – having 2 sets to manage, maintain, and deploy during migration. Avoid increasing complexity and costs by understanding and ensuring you are picking the right architecture for your needs – especially if you are planning a move to Win 7.
For Example:
Agent Based – agent that installs into the physical kernel of the PC. There will be some requirements for this agent to be installed and compatible with the OS. That means that you will need to ensure there is no single point of failure, OS compatibility, and testing.
Agentless – these technologies are not truly agentless – the agent is embedded in the application itself during the virtualization process. In some cases they virtualize a component of the OS and thus require to repackage all your applications to move to Win 7 or in general if there is a security update to the agent itself. For IT Admins with hundreds to thousands of applications this could take months, a lot more regression testing, and costs.
Hybrid – The InstallFree approach is to provide a “Virtual Client” that maintains and manages the applications based on policy. Because we have our own file system we are not dependant on the underlying registry to run our virtual applications – breaking the bonds between OS versions and application dependencies. Allowing IT to run virtually any application across the various Windows OS types (XP, Vista, Win 7, 2003, etc.)