VMware ThinApp

VMware ThinApp (now Omnissa ThinApp) is a program that allows you to create virtual packages of Windows applications. This program can be useful for system administrators, who often face the task of transferring software from one computer to another. ThinApp captures an application installation and creates something like a portable version of it: a single executable (.EXE) file, optionally wrapped in an .MSI package for deployment, that runs in its own isolated environment without being installed. This allows you to quickly transfer copies of programs from one computer to another, avoiding possible problems with the configuration of the system. ThinApp packages can be moved between different versions of Windows (for example, you can migrate IE 6 to Windows 7 and run it in parallel with IE 8 already installed on the computer). Applications packaged with ThinApp do not make changes to the operating system of the computer on which they are running, because their changes are written to a separate sandbox, which eliminates possible conflicts at the operating system level. Such ThinApp files include all data necessary for the work of the packaged program - its files, DLLs, runtimes, registry keys, etc. - and no agent or kernel-mode driver is needed on the target PC. The capture is done with the Setup Capture wizard, which compares system snapshots taken before and after the installation. After Broadcom acquired VMware, ThinApp moved to Omnissa, which continues to release new versions as a commercial product.

VMware ThinApp allows quick and conflict-free transfer of applications between Windows computers without installing them.