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Microsoft Beta Testing User Experience Virtualization, App-V 5.0

Microsoft UE-V will be integrated into the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack; App-V 5's enhanced application streaming goes under scrutiny with testers.

• By Michael Domingo
• 04/04/2012

Microsoft announced two virtualization solutions currently undergoing beta tester scrutiny. Microsoft User Experience Virtualizaton is a new feature that will be integrated into the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack once it passes development muster. App-V, which will be at version 5 upon testing completion, comes with several new features including a new approach to application streaming. News of the beta programs came via a post from Karri Alexion-Tiernan on the Windows Team Blog.

Microsoft User Experience Virtualization, or UE-V in Microsoft's marketing parlance, aims to provide application and user experience consistency among user devices. According to Alexion-Tiernan in her blog posting, the product grew out of discussions mainly with customers who were looking for consistency in configuring and managing the computing experience across the various device form factors being deployed in enterprise environments.

"By implementing UE-V," writes Alexion-Tiernan, "IT departments can enable a consistent experience for users who have multiple devices provided by their company or choose to bring their personal PC or tablet to work." The key, she said, would be to also provide a sophisticated level of security as users move their working environments among the devices. UE-V will be part of MDOP, and can also be deployed via Microsoft's System Center Configuration Manager. Alexion-Tiernan implies that deployment via other third-party system management tools will be supported as well.

The App-V 5.0 beta will be testing a new method of application streaming when used in a VDI scenario, whereby IT can "choose to turn off local application storage, dramatically reducing disk requirements for VDI while leaving the application and update process unchanged," notes Alexion-Tiernan. Also new is a Web-based management interface that uses Silverlight, which means App-V can then be cloud-managed. App-V 5 will also support Windows 8 when the new OS is released.

On a side note, Alexion-Tiernan writes that the Asset Inventory Service in the MDOP will be phased out of the product by April 3, 2013, citing its lack of use among customers.

The beta version of UE-V is here; the App-V 5 beta is here.