Application Virtualization - Benefits of Application Virtualization

Benefits of Application Virtualization

• Allows applications to run in environments that do not suit the native application:
  • e.g. Wine allows Microsoft Windows applications to run on Linux.
  • e.g. CDE, a lightweight application virtualization, allows linux applications to run in a distribution agnostic way.
• May protect the operating system and other applications from poorly written or buggy code and in some cases provide memory protection and IDE style debugging features.
• Uses fewer resources than a separate virtual machine.
• Run applications that are not written correctly, for example applications that try to store user data in a read-only system-owned location.
• Run incompatible applications side-by-side, at the same time and with minimal regression testing against one another.
• Reduce system integration and administration costs by maintaining a common software baseline across multiple computers in an organization.
• Implement the security principle of least privilege by removing the requirement for end-users to have Administrator privileges in order to run poorly written applications.
• Simplified operating system migrations.
• Accelerated application deployment, through on-demand application streaming.
• Improved security, by isolating applications from the operating system.
• Enterprises can easily track license usage. Application usage history can then be used to save on license costs.
• Fast application provisioning to the desktop based upon user's roaming profile.
• Allows applications to be copied to portable media and then imported to client computers without need of installing them, so called Portable software.