Microsoft App-V, now fortified with Windows 7 support

Microsoft has updated its App-V (Application Virtualization, part of MDOP) 4.5 solution to work with the Windows 7 Beta via a CU1 (Customer Update 1?) release. They're also talking up the next version of this product, App-V 4.6, which will include x64 support. Today I’d like to share with you the immediate availability of Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) for use with the Windows 7 Beta and more roadmap information around App-V 4.6. Today, we are pleased to announce the immediate availability of App-V 4.5 CU1 for the Windows 7 Beta. When Windows 7 releases, we are committed to supporting the final product within 90 days of general availability. App-V 4.5 CU1 also contains a small number of improvements such as instant access or removal of applications assigned to end users. When released, App-V 4.6 will be available to all existing MDOP customers and provide new key features including 64-bit platform support.  Customers interested in App-V 4.6 can watch for registration to become available at Microsoft Connect in Q1 of 2009. I wrote a bit about App-V back in my Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) overview last year: Via Microsoft's SoftGrid Application Virtualization technologies, MDOP licensees can stream or install individual virtualized application packages, instead of requiring desktop users to access applications via a single virtualized environment. The primary advantage of this scheme is compatibility: You can do such things as install multiple versions of applications, each virtualized and packaged individually with its own specific set of DLLs and prerequisite files. In a recent demo, I was able to run three different versions of Microsoft Word simultaneously on a single PC, for example. I feel that this technology may be the key to the way future Windows versions handle backwards compatibility, incidentally.