Liquidware FlexApp with Microsoft WVD Entitlements
Separating your OS and your applications is a great strategy to easily manage your virtual desktop environment. Liquidware FlexApp is one of the market leaders in application layering technology. And since the launch of Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktops, Liquidware has been working together with Microsoft as one of the key Microsoft WVD community partners. It should be noted that many organizations are considering Microsoft WVD and not only its native context – Microsoft WVD entitlements are being leveraged by many organizations for their Citrix Cloud and VMware cloud environments that are hosted on Azure. Liquidware FlexApp is an ideal complement to all of these environments.
Application layering lets you create a virtual layer in which you install your applications. These layers can then be “Attached” on top of your OS to create the right application set per user group. With Liquidware FlexApp “click-to-layer” technology users can layer the applications when it’s needed. A desktop can start without any applications and the user then easily adds application layers while starting these layers. Making your virtual desktop deployment easy manageable and scalable.
Google Chrome as a layerd application application on top of Windows 10 multi-user WVD.
“As a partner of the Microsoft WVD community, Liquidware’s suite of solutions work with Microsoft WVD to benefit customers looking to properly plan for WVD, manage users and profiles, and minimize base image management through layering” – Clark Nicholson | Principal Program Manager | Microsoft – Read the full status brief here.
FlexApp and the Cloud
Liquidware is a Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop partner and FlexApp is cloud-ready. You can easily use the FlexApp application with Windows Virtual Desktops including Windows 10 Multi-user without additional setup. But to fully utilize the cloud you can even save your FlexApp application layers directly to Azure storage containers eliminating the need for file servers. Your existing layers can also be easily uploaded to an Azure storage container using the clone package function in the FlexApp console:
After cloning the package to the Azure Storage Container, you can see that it is saved in the container. This way you fully utilize the cloud with Liquidware FlexApp without any on-premises infrastructure needed. This off course saves resources and money.
A full video of FlexApp cloud migration can be found here:
MSIX and FlexApp
Microsoft has launched a new file type for modern packages these are called MSIX. With MSIX Microsoft has also launched its form of application layering called app attach. This shows that Microsoft themself believes in the application layering strategy. The only issue is that App Attach only supports MSIX. And not normal MSI, EXE’s or install scripts. This means that your software vendor first needs to convert their installer to MSIX. FlexApp supports out of the box MSI, EXE, install scripts, and MSIX. They also support the conversion of app-v to Flexapp for easy migrations. This means that you can layer all your software while taking advantage of the unmatched context-aware filters in ProfileUnity and FlexApp. This is a really big benefit considering that multiple software installation types will be around for many years to come.
Whether you are kicking the tires of Microsoft Native WVD or leveraging Microsoft WVD entitlements for your planned Citrix or VMware Microsoft Azure hosted desktops, Liquidware FlexApp is an ideal way to keep applications dynamic. The solution truly does streamline image management in these environments while boasting the broadest range of application compatibility in the industry. Liquidware offers a robust trial of their software and you can download and start your POC today. Just visit this link to get started.
I hope this was informative. For questions or comments, you can always leave a reaction in the comment section or contact me:
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