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VMware ThinApp Changelog

What's new in VMware ThinApp 2312

Mar 9, 2024
  • When using Windows Update KB5025221 and later, some of the ThinApped virtualized applications fail due to an access violation exception. A new parameter is introduced to fix this issue. For more information, see the VMware ThinApp Package.ini Parameters Reference Guide.
  • When using Windows Update KB5025221 and later, some ThinApped virtualized applications fail due to the change in the Windows CopyFile API behavior.

New in VMware ThinApp 2206 (Jul 21, 2022)

  • Resolved Issues:
  • After capturing a 32-bit application, when building the project in the package.ini file, at the primary data container entry point, an incorrect entry is automatically created by ThinApp Setup Capture as %SystemSystem%CMD.exe. As a result, build.bat fails and the following error is seen: could not open %SystemSystem%CMD.exe.
  • ThinApp fails to validate the signature of the notification module, hzntaplugin.dll, which is signed by DigiCert. As a result, ThinApp launch fails with the following error: Notification module hzntaplugin.dll does not have required signature. This issue occurs because ThinApp only accepts certificates signed by Verisign.

New in VMware ThinApp 5.2.9 (May 7, 2021)

  • What's New:
  • Support for Microsoft Windows 10, version 20H2.
  • Resolved Issues:
  • In Windows 8.1 and later, virtualized applications fail to display certain GUI components. The applications might report an access violation exception in the event log, but fail to display the corresponding UI dialog box.
  • Following is the sample of an access violation exception in the event log:
  • Faulting application name: SampleExeName, version: x.x.x.x, time stamp: 0xxxxxxxxx
  • Faulting module name: COMCTL32.dll, version: 5.xx.xxxxx.xxxx, time stamp: 0xxxxxxxxx
  • Exception code: 0xc0000005
  • When the Firefox user profile setting security.sandbox.content.level is set to level 1, the Firefox package is unresponsive. As a result, the Firefox application fails.
  • ThinApp applications fail to launch on Windows 10 2004 64-bit systems, which have Microsoft Security Patch KB4592438 installed.

New in VMware ThinApp 5.2.7 (Mar 31, 2020)

  • Support for Windows 10 1909
  • Support for new parameters: DisableWriteDAC and IgnoreFolderSecurity in the package.ini file.
  • Warning message added, in the SetupCapture wizard, for applications compiled using the AnyCpu flag in the ThinApp build process.
  • Security updates

New in VMware ThinApp 5.2.6 (Sep 21, 2019)

  • What's New:
  • Support for Windows 10 1903
  • Support for Mozilla FireFox ESR 68.
  • Security updates
  • Support for new parametersCopyManifestData and DllNamesMap in the package.ini file.
  • Resolved Issues:
  • Virtual applications fail if VMware Dynamic Environment Manager, Citrix XenApp, or Horizon View Agent are installed on the deployment machine.
  • Certain applications like VMware Dynamic Environment Manager, Citrix XenApp, or Horizon View Agent install hook DLLs in the system that might cause virtual applications to fail. The presence of any of the following hook DLLs such as vmwsci.dll, MfApHook.dll, MfApHook64.dll, FlexHook32.dll, or FlexHook64.dll might interfere with the child process creation in ThinApp causing the virtual applications to fail.
  • Resolution:
  • In the package.ini file, set the parameter EnableExternalHookInterception to 1.
  • Copy the following DLLs to the deployment machine
  • These DLLs are not required during an application capture.
  • For 32-bit virtual applications, copy the file dummyTLS.dll from the ThinApp install location to the folder C:WindowsSysWOW64 on a 64-bit deployment machine, or to the folder C:WindowsSystem32 on a 32-bit deployment machine.
  • For 64-bit virtual applications, copy the file dummyTLS64.dll from the ThinApp install location to the folder C:WindowsSystem32 on a 64-bit deployment machine.
  • Virtual GFRQuery application is not working with ThinApp 5.2.5
  • The "Detail Summary Window" of the Virtual GFRQuery application is not displayed.
  • Resolution:
  • Rebuild the package with ThinApp 5.2.6.
  • Applications virtualized with ThinApp when compiled with "Control Flow Guard Flag" fail to start.
  • Resolution:
  • Rebuild the ThinApp package with version 5.2.6.
  • Paint.NET 4.x, when virtualized by using ThinApp, fails when started on a Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 Virtual Machine
  • When an application virtualized by using ThinApp fails to start on either Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 machine, the following error message is displayed:
  • application_name requires Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10.
  • Resolution:
  • In the General Purpose Parameters section of the package.ini file, add CopyManifestData=1.
  • Rebuild the ThinApp package.
  • CopyManifestData is a new parameter.
  • Virtual ixDrill application fails with a runtime error.
  • Virtual ixDrill application fails due to a runtime error.

New in VMware ThinApp 5.2.5 (Feb 22, 2019)

  • What's New:
  • Support for Windows 10 1809
  • Support for Windows Server 2019
  • Support for Mozilla FireFox ESR 60. See the KB https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/60340 for the detailed support policy for Firefox.
  • Security updates
  • Miscellaneous:
  • A few applications misbehave if Horizon Agent 7.6 is installed on the deployment machine. To resolve this issue, perform the following actions:
  • Set EnableExternalHookInterception parameter to 1 in the parameter.ini file.
  • Copy the following DLLs to the deployment machine. Follow the instructions below to copy the modules to the deployment machine. The modules are not required during application capture:
  • For 32-bit virtual applications, copy the file dummyTLS.dll from the ThinApp install location to the folder C:WindowsSysWOW64 on a 64-bit deployment machine or to the folder C:WindowsSystem32 on a 32-bit deployment machine.
  • For 64-bit virtual applications, copy the file dummyTLS64.dll from ThinApp install location to the folder C:WindowsSystem32 on a 64-bit deployment machine.
  • Resolved Issues:
  • The following issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.2.5 :
  • In-place upgrade from ThinApp 5.2.3 to ThinApp 5.2.4 - Error message "The same or a newer version of VMware ThinApp is already installed and needs to be uninstalled manually" is displayed when ThinApp 5.2.4 installer is run on a system that already has ThinApp 5.2.3 installed.

New in VMware ThinApp 5.2.4 (Sep 24, 2018)

  • What's New:
  • The ThinApp 5.2.4 release introduces the following new features:
  • Support for Windows 10 1709 (Fall Creators Update)
  • Support for Windows 10 1803 (April 2018 Update)
  • Additional modules have been added in this release. You must copy them to the deployment machine in specific cases, as desribed below. The modules are not required during application capture:
  • For 32-bit virtual applications which crash at launch on Windows 10, copy the file dummyTLS.dll to the folder C:WindowsSysWOW64 on a 64-bit deployment machine or to the folder C:WindowsSystem32 on a 32-bit deployment machine.
  • For 64-bit virtual applications which crash at launch on Windows 10, copy the file dummyTLS64.dll to the folder C:WindowsSystem32 on a 64-bit deployment machine.
  • For 32-bit virtual applications which fail to start when launched from a 64-bit ThinApped application on Windows 10, copy the file dummyNt.exe to the folder C:WindowsSysWOW64 on a 64-bit deployment machine
  • One new parameter is available for inclusion in package.ini
  • Resolved Issues:
  • The ThinApp 5.2.4 release resolves the following issues:
  • SASBEG application does not work if Sophos SafeGuard 8 is installed
  • SASBEG application crashes/loses functionality if Sophos SafeGuard 8 is installed on a 32-bit version of Windows 7.
  • This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.2.4.
  • MobaXterm application fails to start on Windows 10 1703
  • Copy dummyTLS.dll to C:WindowsSysWOW64 and dummyTLS64.dll to C:WindowsSystem32 folder on a 64-bit version of Windows 10 1703.

New in VMware ThinApp 5.2.3-6945559 (Feb 27, 2018)

  • What's New:
  • Support for Windows 10 Creators Update
  • Support for Windows Server 2016
  • Four new parameters are available for inclusion in package.ini
  • ThinDirectOpenUrlInNewSystemBrowser Setting this parameter to 1 forces virtual to native browser redirection to occur in a new instance of native browser.
  • ThinDirectOpenUrlInNewVirtualBrowser Setting this parameter to 1 forces native to virtual browser redirection to occur in a new instance of virtual browser.
  • AllowMultipleNativeBrowserWindows Setting this parameter to 1 allows for multiple Internet Explorer windows to be used during thin redirection.
  • IgnoreRestrictedSids Setting this parameter to 1 ignores the list of restricting SIDs while creating a restricted access token using the function CreateRestrictedToken.
  • Resolved Issues:
  • Cannot reuse the same drive letter on ThinApp application:
  • When reconnecting removable disk while using ThinApp Application the disk drive letter changes.
  • Clicking a mailto link in a website redirected by ThinDirect causes ThinDirect to engage and the browser to close or hang.:
  • When clicking a mailto link in an internal website Thindirect will engage and hang causing user to have to navigate back to the website manually.
  • A read-only attribute file in SandBox is not deleted with RemoveSandboxOnStart=1:
  • A file with read-only attribute in SandBox is not deleted with RemoveSandboxOnStart=1
  • Regsvr32.exe fails when registering OLE/ActiveX module(DLL/OCX) made by VB5/6 on ThinApp VOS:
  • Regsvr32.exe fails while registering OLE/ActiveX module(DLL/OCX) made by VB5/6 on ThinApp VOS.
  • A file with long pathname can't be deleted even with RemoveSandboxOnStart/RemoveSandboxOnExit:
  • A file with long pathname cannot be deleted neither with RemoveSandboxOnStart nor with RemoveSandboxOnExit.
  • Unable to browse local files from IE8 Thinapp Capture on Windows 10:
  • While trying to browse from IE8 captured on Windows 7 and running on Windows 10, the File Explorer dialog box does not pop up.
  • ThinDirect with entry point to native IE causes redirect loop on Windows 10 when navigating to a URL not defined in ThinDirect file:
  • When going from the native to thinapp thindirect loops, constantly opening new IE tabs.
  • Native to virtual URL redirection shares session with an existing running virtual IE instance:
  • Native to virtual URL redirection shares session with an existing running virtual IE instance. It opens as a new tab in an existing virtual IE instance.
  • This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.2.3. Added an option to ensure that the redirected URL is opened in a new instance of virtual IE.
  • Firefox 50 will not load Web pages:
  • Firefox 50 launches but does not load Web pages.
  • Attempting to ThinApp Adobe Acrobat DC errors with: Error 16:
  • When attempting to launch ThinApp Adobe Acrobat DC from a folder redirected to network location, it fails to launch with Error 16.
  • ThinDirect from VirtIE9 to native IE11 sometimes does not work when modeless dialogue exists on native IE11:
  • ThinDirect from Virtual IE9 to native IE11 intermittently fails.
  • Windows 10 performance enhancements:
  • Further performance enhancements to improve launch of ThinApp applications on Windows 10.
  • Thinapp SDK returns an error when one of the Registry Values length is exactly 62 characters:
  • Thinapp SDK returns an error when one of the Registry Values length is exactly 62 characters.

New in VMware ThinApp 5.2.0-3231342 (Nov 24, 2015)

  • VMware ThinApp 5.2 supports the Windows 10 operating system.
  • Resolved Issues:
  • The ThinApp 5.2 release resolves the following issues:
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 crashes at launch on 32-bit Windows 10 machines.
  • Runtime error is displayed at the launch of 64-bit ThinApped applications on 64-bit Windows 10 machines.
  • The ThinApped Setup Capture program fails on 64-bit Windows 10 machines.
  • All 64-bit ThinApped applications fail to launch on 64-bit Windows 10 machines.
  • All 32-bit ThinApped applications fail to launch on 64-bit Windows 10 machines.

New in VMware ThinApp 5.1.1-2722044 (Aug 18, 2015)

  • Resolved Issues:
  • The ThinApp 5.1.1 release resolves the following issues:
  • BIG Expert software fails to launch after capture with ThinApp.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.1.
  • ThinApp version number information is not added to compiled executables when ProcessExternalNameBehavior=Original is used in Package.ini.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.1.
  • Registration of OCX files does not work with ThinApp.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.1.
  • When Mozilla Firefox 24 with Adobe Flash Player 11 is captured using ThinApp on a system where Internet Explorer 11 is installed, it fails to launch.
  • The following error message is displayed:
  • Unable to download DLL:
  • C:\windows\syswow64\Macromed\Flash\FlashPlayerPlugin_11_8_800_168.exe>Crypt32.dll
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.1.
  • The Microsoft update KB3000850 causes some system applications launched inside ThinApp virtual environment to fail on Windows 8.1 and Windows 2012 R2 machines.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.1.
  • Windows File Explorer takes a long time to start from the command prompt on Windows 2012 R2.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.1.
  • The ThinDirect functionality does not work when you use virtual Internet Explorer 8 browser with native Internet Explorer 11 browser on a Windows 7 machine.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.1.
  • ThinApp Log Monitor crashes on a Windows 64-bit machine and does not generate the trace file.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.1.
  • When launching Internet Explorer 8 that is configured to open a new session in Windows via ThinDirect, the existing session opens.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.1.

New in VMware ThinApp 5.1.0-2079447 (Aug 18, 2015)

  • ThinApp Package Management
  • In earlier versions of ThinApp, to change some specific Package.ini parameters, you had to first make those changes in the configuration file, save the file, and rebuild the package. Using the new ThinApp package management feature, you can dynamically reconfigure the attributes of deployed ThinApp packages at runtime. ThinApp Package management helps IT administrators manage ThinApp packages and define group policy for each package. Each package to be managed must have an associated group policy defined using its inventory name.
  • When you install ThinApp 5.1, a new folder named Policy is created in the installation directory. This folder contains tools and templates for managing ThinApp packages and contains the following files:
  • AppPolicy.exe
  • README.TXT
  • ThinAppBase.adml
  • ThinAppBase.admx
  • ThinAppGeneric.adml
  • ThinAppGeneric.admx
  • ThinApp selects the policy precedence when you rebuild a package and deploy it. If a package is managed by a group policy, ThinApp gives precedence to the policy over its Package.ini configuration.
  • Group Policy Administrative Templates
  • ThinApp 5.1 introduces the group policy administrative template (ADMX/ADML) files. With these template files you can reconfigure group policy settings for applications that were packaged by ThinApp. The GPO files work on domain controllers that run in the following environments:
  • Windows Server 2008
  • Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Administrative Template files contain markup language that is used to describe a registry-based Group Policy. The administrative files are divided into language-neutral (.admx files) and language-specific resources (.adml files), available to all Group Policy administrators. These factors allow Group Policy tools to adjust the user interface according to the administrator's configured language.
  • Reconfiguring Attributes of Deployed ThinApp Packages
  • In addition to ThinDirect, with ThinApp 5.1 you can now reconfigure or manage the following attributes of a deployed package:
  • AppSync
  • AppLink
  • Entry-Point Shortcuts
  • Note: To know how to reconfigure these package attributes, see the ThinApp 5.1 User's Guide.
  • ThinDirect
  • In ThinApp 5.1, the following enhancements have been made to the ThinDirect plug-in:
  • Support for the update of ThinDirect settings at specified time intervals
  • In ThinApp 5.1, the ThinDirect functionality has been enhanced to periodically poll for the ThinDirect setting changes. Since, the ThinDirect settings are now detected dynamically, the user need not restart the browser to view the updated changes.
  • Support for dynamic changes to ThinDirect via ADM
  • In ThinApp 5.1, you can use ThinDirect.ADM file to manage the ThinDirect enabled firefox.
  • Support for overriding the ThinDirect settings through GPO
  • In ThinApp installation directory, locate the ThinDirect.admx and ThinDirect.adml files. Use these files to manage the settings for ThinDirect feature by defining a group policy object. If the ThinDirect feature is defined through the GPO, these settings would override the text file (ThinDirect.txt) based redirection.
  • Support for redirection between two virtual browsers
  • ThinApp 5.1 supports redirection between two virtual browsers.
  • Support for ThinDirect in Mozilla Firefox
  • In ThinApp 5.1, ThinDirect has been enhanced to work with Mozilla Firefox version 22 and later. In earlier versions of ThinApp, ThinDirect was limited to Internet Explorer.
  • New Package.ini Parameter Introduced
  • ThinApp 5.1 introduces the SandboxWindowClassName parameter. When you set the SandboxWindowClassName=1 you can sandbox or isolate the application defined window class names created and used within the ThinApp package.
  • Extracting an existing ThinApp project to a system
  • ThinApp 5.1 allows you to extract an existing ThinApp project to a capture and build operating system by using snapshot.exe and snapshot64.exe commands.
  • Pre-requisites
  • Before you extract an existing ThinApp project to a capture and build operating system, ensure that the following conditions are met:
  • Verify that the architecture and type of the captured operating system is the same as that of the deployed operating system.
  • Perform the extraction of an existing ThinApp project on a clean capture and build machine.
  • Ensure that the user profile in the existing virtual project is the same as that of the capture and build machine.
  • ThinApp 5.1 has the following command line options to extract existing projects to capture and build operating systems:
  • snapshot.exe is used to extract an existing ThinApp project to a capture and build 32-bit operating system
  • snapshot64.exe is used to extract an existing ThinApp project to a capture and build 64-bit operating system
  • Note: To know more about the process for extracting existing ThinApp packages, see the ThinApp 5.1 User's Guide.
  • MAPI Support
  • ThinApp 5.1 supports the Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) on the following Microsoft Windows platforms:
  • Windows 7
  • Windows 8 32-bit
  • Windows 8 64-bit
  • Windows 8.1 32-bit
  • Windows 8.1 64-bit
  • ThinApp 5.1 provides the DefaultEmailProgram option in Package.ini to register a virtual email client as the host's default email program. You have to enable this option to register the default email program. The Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) is not supported on Windows XP x86 operating system. For more information, see KB artilce 2087898.
  • Support for Internet Explorer 10 and Internet Explorer 11
  • ThinApp 5.1 supports Internet Explorer 10 and Internet Explorer 11 only on the Windows 7 operating system.
  • Support for Windows 8.1
  • Resolved Issues
  • The ThinApp 5.1 release resolves the following issues:
  • When you access web sites with Flash content virtualized Adobe Flash 11.3 freezes the Firefox browser
  • When you package Firefox along with Adobe Flash 11.3 and access a web site with Flash content, the browser freezes and fails to load the flash content.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.
  • The ThinDirect plug-in should read configuration files more often
  • In ThinApp 5.1, the ThinDirect plug-in does not poll the registry and files for setting changes, the changes to the file and registry are not detected dynamically, you must restart the browser to update the changes.
  • Resolution: ThinDirect plug-in has been enhanced to handle this issue.
  • ThinApp fails to use virtual Microsoft Outlook as the host's default email program
  • On a system with a virtual Microsoft Outlook 2013 (or other email clients), if you right-click a file and select the Send to Mail Recipient option from the pop-up menu, the virtual Outlook 2013 fails to start and does not send the mail.
  • Resolution: ThinApp 5.1 provides the DefaultEmailProgram option in Package.ini to register a virtual email client as the host's default email program. You have to enable this option to register the default email program.
  • ThinApp displays the encoding of the trace reports in ANSI, replacing any occurrence of non-ASCII characters with question marks
  • On a Simplified Chinese Windows 7, 64-bit operating system, while virtualizing the Firefox 18 application, if you include non-ASCII characters for the Inventory Name and build the package and generate the text trace report, you might notice that the report encoding has changed to ANSI and some of the non-ASCII characters are replaced with question marks.
  • Resolution: ThinApp 5.1 has enhanced the existing localization support with the introduction of Unicode characters, which resolves this issue.
  • An error message is displayed when you copy some characters from a PDF using a virtual version of Adobe Reader 11
  • When you open a pdf file using a virtual version of Adobe Reader 11 and attempt to copy some characters, ThinApp displays a pop-up error message:
  • There was an error while copying to the Clipboard. An internal error occurred
  • This issue is observed on Windows 7, 32-bit and 64-bit Service Pack 1 operating systems.
  • Resolution: Enhanced support for Clipboard APIs in ThinApp 5.1 resolves this issue.
  • Log Monitor displays a warning message if you close and relaunch it without closing the associated ThinApp application
  • When you close the Log Monitor associated with a ThinApp application and attempt to relaunch the Log Monitor without closing the ThinApp application, ThinApp displays the following warning message:
  • Log Monitor is already running, only one copy may be active at a time.
  • If you check the Task Manager you might not notice any instance of Log Monitor running.
  • Resolution: Modifying the synchronization mechanism of Log Monitor module resolves this issue.
  • ThinApp cannot print when a 32-bit virtual application is deployed to a 64-bit operating system
  • On a 64-bit Windows operating system, you cannot print from a ThinApp virtual package captured using a 32-bit Windows operating system.
  • Resolution: Setting the isolation mode of %SystemSystem(x64)%\spool in the ThinApp package 64-bit operating system to MERGED state resolves this issue.
  • Adding a ThinApp application to a repository results in an API object error
  • When you attempt to add a ThinApp application (Flash Player 12) to a repository, VMware View does not allow this action and displays the following error message:
  • : HRESULT hr = 0x8c420002. Internal error: unable to create API object
  • Resolution: Enhanced support for ThinApp MSI in ThinApp 5.1 resolves this issue.
  • Internet Explorer 10 fails to load JAVA
  • On a Windows 7 32-bit operating system, if you package Internet Explorer 10 with Java or use the Applink feature, Internet Explorer fails to load JAVA.
  • Resolution: To resolve this issue ThinApp no longer loads kernel32.dll or kernelbase.dll from the package.
  • On 64-bit operating systems, the ThinDirect plug-in does not work between virtual browsers
  • If you enable a 32-bit virtual browser with ThinDirect, deploy it on a 64-bit environment and allow the browsers to participate in redirection with other 32-bit and 64-bit systems (with or without ThinDirect plug-in enabled), the ThinApp application fails to launch the browsers redirected using the ThinDirect plug-in.
  • Resolution: To resolve this issue, generate an .alt file, set the AltArchitectureShortcut=1 in Package.ini file and rebuild the package.
  • On Simplified Chinese and Japanese operating systems, virtual applications fail to start if you use non-ASCII characters in folder paths or application names when Log Monitor is running
  • In Simplified Chinese and Japanese Windows 7 64-bit environments, if you virtualize an application that includes non-ASCII characters in the application name, and then copy the virtual application to a non-ASCII directory and launch the Log Monitor before you launch the application, the application launch fails.
  • Resolution: ThinApp 5.1 has enhanced the existing localization support with the introduction of Unicode characters, which resolves this issue.
  • ThinApp fails to launch native and virtual instances of Adobe Reader 11 concurrently
  • On a Windows 7 32-bit operating system, when you have virtual and native instance of Adobe Reader 11, ThinApp can launch only one instance.
  • Resolution: Setting the parameters SandboxWindowClassName=1 and IsolatedSynchronizationObjects=ACROSEMAPHORE_R11 in package.ini resolves this issue.
  • Adobe Reader 11 displays incorrect content in the print preview window and in the printed document
  • When you virtualize Adobe Reader 11 and attempt to print a pdf document, you might notice some inconsistency in content in the Print Preview window and the printed document.
  • Resolution: Improved communication support between parent and child processes resolves this issue.
  • Microsoft Visio 2007 and 2010 display an error message if you insert an equation
  • On a virtual version of Microsoft Visio 2007 and 2010, if you attempt to insert an equation using the Insert > Picture > Equation option, the ThinApp application displays the following error message:
  • Visio internal error: #3400 Action 1646: Insert Equation
  • Resolution: ThinApp 5.1 has fixed issues related to virtual OLE object, which resolves this issue.
  • ThinApp 5.0 does not create a Thinstall registry key
  • Using ThinApp 5.0, if you virtualize an application and navigate to the virtual registry you may not see the Thinstall registry key. This issue is observed for all the applications virtualized using ThinApp 5.0.
  • Resolution: This issue is fixed in ThinApp 5.1.
  • J-Trader Client fails to start on Windows 7 32-bit operating system
  • If you virtualize the J-Trader client on a Windows 7 32-bit operating system that has Java 1.6u31 natively installed and edit the value of -Xmx in JTrader.14J.ini file, the virtual application fails to start.
  • Resolution: Enhanced support for memory management in ThinApp 5.1 resolves this issue.
  • WinCVS fails to save registry settings
  • When you log in to virtual WinCVS as Administrator and make changes to the preferences by using the Admin > Preferences option, the application fails to save the changes to the registry and displays the following error message:
  • Error while saving preferences!
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.
  • taskschd.msc fails to start from a virtual command prompt
  • On a Windows 7 32-bit operating system, when you capture an empty package, launch a virtual command prompt, and then start taskschd.msc, the taskschd program displays a fatal error message with non-specific error information.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.
  • schtasks exits silently when run from a virtual command prompt
  • On a Windows 7 32-bit operating system, when you capture an empty package, launch a virtual command prompt, and then start schtasks.exe, the schtasks program exits silently without displaying summary information for all scheduled tasks.
  • Resolution:This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.
  • The IgnoreDDEMessages ThinApp parameter does not work on Windows 8.1 64-bit operating system
  • On a Windows 8.1 64-bit operating system that has Microsoft Office 2013 natively installed, if you copy *.xls, *.ppt, *.doc and *.html files to file system, set the ThinApp package ini parameter IgnoreDDEMessages=1 and if you double click on any of the copied files, the ThinApp application does not allow the native Microsoft Office 2013 applications to open these files. Incorrectly, virtual Microsoft Office 2013 applications opens the files instead.
  • Resolution: This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.
  • The virtual version of the Citrix v11.150 client launches the native Citrix Receiver instead of the virtual Citrix client
  • When you start the virtual version of Citrix v11.150 client, the virtual client launches a native Citrix Receiver instead of the virtual Citrix client and displays the following error message:
  • Citrix Receiver Configuration Manager: Could not find the file named (C:\Planon.ica). Please check your installation, or contact your administrator
  • Resolution:This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1. For more information, see KB article 2087931.
  • Citrix Receiver fails with ThinApp 5.0.1
  • If you start a Citrix Receiver that was virtualized using ThinApp 5.0.1, the Citrix receiver fails to start and displays a fatal error message.
  • Resolution:This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.
  • Internet Explorer 6 displays ClassFactory cannot supply requested class error on Windows 8.1 operating system
  • On a virtualized version of Internet Explorer 6, if you attempt to save a file to a folder shortcut using the File > Save as option, ThinApp displays the following error message:
  • ClassFactory cannot supply requested class
  • This issue is observed on the Windows 8.1 operating system.
  • Resolution:To resolve this issue in ThinApp 5.1, support for handling calls to the native shell have been enhanced.
  • During application synchronization, the Thinreg option fails to register an application if there is a whitespace in the path
  • If you use the AppSync option to synchronize an application and there is a whitespace in the path of the application executable, Thinreg option fails to register the new application.
  • Resolution:ThinApp now registers new binaries after Application Synchronization, even if the path contains a whitespace.
  • The ExportReg option of ThinApp�s virtual registry tool, vregtool, fails if the REG_SZ, REG_BINARY and REG_DWORD values are not set
  • When you virtualize Adobe Reader 11, and the registry parameters REG_SZ, REG_BINARY and REG_DWORD are not set,vregtool's ExportReg option fails.
  • Resolution:The ExportReg option of vregtool now handles empty REG_DWORD values.
  • Log Monitor logs extraneous information along with the version of Internet Explorer on Windows 8 and 8.1.
  • If you use Log Monitor on Windows 8 or 8.1 to generate a trace report, you might notice that the version of Internet Explorer shown in the logs has an extraneous prefix along with its actual version number. This issue occurs on Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 operating systems.
  • Resolution:Log Monitor no longer displays extraneous information along with the Internet Explorer version.
  • Google Chrome displays blank web pages on Windows Server 2003
  • When you start a native Chrome browser to view a Web site, close it, and then view a Web site with a virtual version of Chrome, the virtual browser might display a blank page. This issue is observed on Windows Server 2003 operating systems.
  • Resolution:This issue is resolved in ThinApp 5.1.

New in VMware ThinApp 5.0.1-1801916 (May 14, 2014)

  • The welcome page of ThinApp Setup Capture now has a link to a KB article, which provides guidelines on how to virtualize applications using ThinApp.
  • The two ChildProcessEnvironment parameters which are now present by default in Package.ini file are:
  • ChildProcessEnvironmentDefault
  • ChildProcessEnvironmentExceptions
  • Package.ini parameters are now case insensitive.
  • Resolved Issues:
  • Autodesk AutoCAD 2014 displays error 80004005 on launch:
  • When you start virtual version of Autodesk AutoCAD 2014, the application exits with an error message similar to the following
  • CLR Error 80004005.
  • Resolution: Increase in the limit on DLL loading, improves the support for applications that load large number of DLLs.
  • Microsoft Office 2010 fails to install virtualized Japanese Microsoft Office 2010 MSI on Japanese Windows Server 2003 R2 32-bit, German Windows Server 2003 R2 32-bit and Windows Server 2008 operating systems:
  • When you attempt to install virtualized Japanese Microsoft Office 2010, the installation fails on Japanese Windows Server 2003 R2 32-bit and German Windows Server 2003 R2 32-bit operating systems.
  • Resolution: Internationalization support has been improved further.
  • ThinDirect feature might not work if you capture Internet Explorer 10 with Include an entry point for the system installed IE option:
  • If you capture Internet Explorer 10 through the Setup Capture using the Include an entry point for the system installed IE option, the ThinDirect feature might not work,
  • Resolution: Fixed an issue where the memory section of the Internet Explorer 10 frame process to a sandbox was not being properly isolated.
  • Incorrect service names are displayed on virtual command prompt:
  • When you run the net start on a virtual command prompt, the services are displayed with path name instead of service name, which is DLL name and resource ID. This is incorrect.
  • Example: @%systemroot%\system32\browser.dll,-100
  • Resolution: Executing services.msc now lists running services by their name.
  • Microsoft Office 2010 applications fail if you open or save a file on Windows 8 64-bit operating system:
  • When you open or save a file on a Windows 8 x64, the virtual version of Microsoft Office 2010 might stop responding.
  • Resolution: An incorrect call to free an already allocated memory was fixed.
  • Microsoft Office 2010 64-bit package is installed on Windows7 32-bit View Agent desktop:
  • The virtual version of 64-bit Microsoft Office 2010 package can be installed on Windows 7 32-bit View Agent desktop which is incorrect.
  • Resolution: We now check the bitness of the package and deployed operating system.
  • AutoCAD 2009 LT freezes with unable to load scree.dll message:
  • Virtualized AutoCAD LT 2009 fails to start with an unable to load scree.dll error message.
  • Resolution: A flaw in loading 32-bit resource DLL from a 64-bit process was fixed.
  • Fatal Application Exit error is displayed when you start Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 on Windows 8.1:
  • When you start virtual version of Microsoft PowerPoint 2013, on the Windows 8.1 operating system, the application displays a warning message similar to the following
  • Fatal Application Exit - This issue occurs because, Microsoft Office2013 uses Windows activation service sppsvc.exe on Windows8.1 instead of osppsvc.exe.
  • Resolution: To resolve, add ChildProcessEnvironmentExceptions=sppsvc.exe in Package.ini.
  • SolidWorks eDrawings 2013 x64 Edition might not start on Windows 7 x64:
  • Virtualized SolidWorks eDrawings 2013 x64 Edition fails to start on Windows 7 64-bit operating system. The SolidWorks 64-bit application is dependent on the Visual C++ 2005 SP1 (64 Bit) runtime, which is one of the prerequisites for using this application.
  • Microsoft Office is fails to insert OLE objects that are not office components:
  • The virtual version of Microsoft Office (2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013) fails to insert OLE components like Bitmap image or WordPad document. This issue is observed on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 operating systems.
  • Resolution: Improved COM support on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 solves this issue.
  • Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 10 might not start on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 operating systems:
  • The virtual version of Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 10 fail to start on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 operating systems. On Windows 8.1, 32-bit system Internet Explorer 10 freezes on launch and on Windows 8.1, 64 bit system Internet Explorer 10 exits silently after launch.
  • Resolution: ThinApp now loads the KernelBase and Kernel32.dll from the runtime machine.
  • Firefox displays a termination exception after playing a Flash clip:
  • If you start the virtual Firefox browser and play a flash clip, the browser stops with a Windows error message.
  • Resolution: This is a Firefox issue, which has been fixed in the Firefox codebase. Please use the latest version of Firefox.
  • Virtual registry might not read the value that contains both non-ASCII characters and # or % symbol:
  • Virtual registry might not read a value that contains both the ASCII characters and # or % symbols. When non English Unicode characters are part of macro string, the string comparison of macros was incorrect.
  • Resolution: Fixed a bug in ThinApp Macro strings expansion.
  • ThinDirect plug-in might cause a native Internet Explorer 8 to stop responding:
  • When you use the ThinDirect plug-in the native Internet Explorer 8 might stop responding.
  • Resolution: For more information see KB article 2073845.
  • Unable to download any files with virtual Internet Explorer 10:
  • Using a Virtual Internet Explorer 10, when native Internet Explorer 10 is not installed, if you click on download link, the Save as dialog box might not appear and the file download might not happen.
  • Resolution: Improved support for packages which use COM surrogacy. Virtual COM surrogacy is now supported through TASurrogate.exe/TASurrogate64.exe, which are new additions to this release.

New in VMware ThinApp 4.7.3-891762 (Nov 29, 2012)

  • The ThinApp 4.7.3 release adds support for packaging and execution of virtualized applications on Windows 8 operating system. The Windows 8 support enables cross-platform capability for many applications regardless of the operating system of capture. The cross-platform capability is an important component of supporting the latest Microsoft Windows releases for both managed and unmanaged endpoints.
  • New Package.ini parameter - You can use the PreventDllInjection=1 parameter to prevent ThinApp runtime from loading a DLL when another external application calls the SetWindowHook to set a global hook. This parameter should be used only when the hook is in conflict with a virtualized application. For example, if a virtualized application is unable to start because the other application NxPowerLite calls SetWindowsHook to set a global hook oehook.dll, modifying the package.ini with PreventDllInjection entry allows the virtualized application to start.

New in VMware ThinApp 4.7.2-771812 (Jul 10, 2012)

  • Streaming - ThinApp agent is now able to stream the virtualized application blocks to stateless View desktops without deploying the entire package. For more information, see Knowledge Base article 2030247
  • Update Support - With this feature ThinApp can now enable Horizon Connector to recognize multiple versions of an application package and then communicate that change to the Agent through the Horizon Service. For more information, see Knowledge Base article 2030248
  • Relink Support - This feature allows ThinApp users to enable Horizon support for packages which are created prior to ThinApp 4.7 without a rebuild. For more information, see Knowledge Base article 2021928
  • New Sandbox Parameter - A new Package.ini parameter, RemoveSandBoxOnStart, is now available. You can set RemoveSandBoxOnStart=1 to clear the sandbox on each launch of an application.

New in VMware ThinApp 4.7.1-677178 (May 3, 2012)

  • Microsoft Word 2003 virtualized with ThinApp does not read registry values for international settings.
  • Microsoft Office 2010 can now be deployed on systems with Office 2010 natively installed.
  • Virtual Microsoft KMS-licensed packages can now run concurrently with other virtual KMS-licensed packages.
  • ThinApp packages now support SMB 2.0 protocol for sandbox access between Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows 2008, or Windows 2003 operating systems.
  • A virtualized ThinApp application fails, when you run the application on one Windows 7 system and set the sandbox location to a share on another Windows 7 system.
  • Wire 200 application virtualized using ThinApp fails to start.
  • On Microsoft Windows XP, Victor player virtualized using ThinApp 4.6.1 or 4.7 does not detect the UDF files (Universal Disk Format) present on the CD drive.
  • ThinApp fails to start the WordPad application in a virtualized Windows 7 operating system.
  • The list of email recipients for a Web-based application is empty if you access it through virtualized Internet Explorer 6.
  • When you run virtualized Visual Lighting application on ESX host or Workstation 7 host and perform a specific function, the application displays the following error message:
  • Calculation-Error Message There is not enough virtual memory available to perform the calculation! Try closing other applications or increasing your virtual memory to a minimum of 1500MB. Click the 'Learn More...' button below for instructions Error 5
  • When you start a radiology application virtualized with ThinApp 4.6, the application fails with the following error message:
  • xpdyinfo.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience
  • xhost.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience
  • xgwingea.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience
  • When you attempt to start the virtualized instance of JT2Go application, the application fails with the following error message:
  • Unable to load DLL C:\THinapp\SW\JT2Go\Products\JT2Go\VisView.exe -> mfc90.dll the specified module could not be found.
  • You can start only one instance of the virtualized Misys Tiger application at a time.
  • A virtualized instance of Internet Explorer 6 fails to open a Windows shortcut to a folder, and displays the CLASS_E_CLASSNOTAVAILABLE error.
  • When you exit the virtualized AGT Infogestion 4 application, the files present in the Sandboxfolder are not deleted.
  • When you try to start Lewis Digant application (Java based) on Windows XP SP3 with ThinApp 4.7.1, the following pop-up message is displayed:
  • Unable to validate your license. Please contact Technical Support.
  • On Microsoft Windows 7 or later, when you try to create a ThinApp package MSI file which is more than 2GB in size, the MSI creation fails with the following error:
  • The system cannot open the device or file specified.
  • When you start Firefox virtualized on a 32-bit operating system and try to open a PDF file on a 64-bit operating system, the application fails.
  • After you login to Infinitt with virtual Internet Explorer 6, the application closes without giving any warning or error message.
  • When you start virtualized Wellcore Field Completions application, the user interface elements are not visible. This is observed when you use Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP Service Pack3.
  • The help file in virtualized CaliberRM 2008 Service Pack 1 is not accessible.
  • When you virtualize Internet Explorer 6 as per instructions in the ThinApp User Guide, some specific security updates are not applied.
  • When you start a scanner function in virtualized Epic Summer application, the scanner user interface fails to appear. This issue is observed for Fujitsu scanners on Windows XP Service Pack 3.
  • When you start virtualized CtrlWORK 2.5.10 application pop ups fail to appear. This is observed on Windows XP Service Pack 3 with Internet Explorer 6.
  • In Microsoft Windows XP, when you use Appsync to update a ThinApp application captured in 4.6.1 or earlier to an application captured in 4.6.2 or later the application fails.
  • Log monitor now provides advanced logging and filtering settings to control log levels and formats. These settings can be changed by modifying the Capture.ini and LogFilter.ini files. Customers should typically ignore these settings unless they are suggested by VMware support to make changes for troubleshooting.

New in VMware ThinApp 4.7.0-519532 (Nov 28, 2011)

  • The ThinApp Setup Capture wizard includes an option to manage with Horizon Application Manager. When the checkbox is selected, ThinApp checks if the Horizon agent is installed natively on the client and is running. If the Horizon agent is found, the ThinApp package reports to the Horizon agent so that it can be controlled by Horizon Application Manager.
  • Horizon Application Manager entitlement allows the delivery of ThinApp packaged applications to specified users and groups. The Horizon agent authorizes a ThinApp package to open, based on entitlements.
  • ThinApp packages are registered by Horizon Application Manager and delivered to end points.
  • The administrator can track usage of ThinApp packages by using Horizon Application Manager monitoring and reporting.
  • The administrator can configure an Organizational URL for end points missing the Horizon agent.

New in VMware ThinApp 4.6.2-467908 (Aug 27, 2011)

  • Multiple enhancements have been made in the ThinDirect component, and outstanding known issues addressed, to improve performance and reliability.
  • ThinDirect now supports the redirection of all browser pages except a specified list of URLs, instead of only supporting the redirection of only a list of specified URLs.
  • Example:
  • [VirtIE6.exe]
  • -www.vmware.com
  • New parameters have been added to the thinreg utility to enhance search and exclude functionality. See New Parameters in thinreg.exe.
  • The thinreg utility can now uninstall applications without dependence on .vbs file association to run the uninstall script.
  • Microsoft Office 2007 application startup times have been improved by approximately 30%.
  • The IgnoreDDEMessages parameter has been added to the Package.ini file. This parameter, which is automatically set for virtualized Internet Explorer 6 packages, causes an application to ignore any DDE messages that it receives, meaning that it can be used to ensure Document Open operations always launch in the native application and not an open virtual application.

New in VMware ThinApp 4.6.1-361923 (Feb 28, 2011)

  • Improved support for Microsoft Office 2010 applications.
  • Known issues related to Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 have been addressed.
  • New options have been added to the package.ini file.
  • S x S COM is now supported.
  • More than 160 known issues have been resolved, resulting in improved application support.

New in VMware ThinApp 4.6.0-287958 (Oct 4, 2010)

  • Full support for Internet Explorer 6 running on Windows 7.
  • ThinApp has been successfully used to help customers virtualize and isolate many browser related issues such as ActiveX controls and various versions of Java.
  • Adds the ability to “Harvest” Internet Explorer 6 from an existing Windows XP instance.
  • Adds a new “ThinDirect” feature which allows redirecting of URLs from native to virtual browsers.
  • Adds support for registering virtual services as boot-time applications

New in VMware ThinApp 4.5.0-238809 (Mar 25, 2010)

  • Full support for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2:
  • One of the most anticipated features of ThinApp 4.5 is full support for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 (both 32 and 64bit editions).
  • New utility: Relink – upgrade packages in seconds without repackaging or rebuilding:
  • Relink can be run against existing ThinApp packages in either .exe or .msi format and automatically upgrades them use the latest and greatest version of the ThinApp runtime and package format. Relink accepts wildcard filenames and can work in recursive mode to upgrade all packages located under some parent directory. Relink is very handy if you have packages without associated projects and you want to upgrade them to support Windows 7.
  • Relink usage looks like this: relink [-Recursive] ExistingPackage [ExistingPackage...]
  • Relink will automatically create a backup of files it upgrades, so make sure you have enough disk space for 2 copies of your packages. Currently the AppLink feature requires that both the base package and the dependency packages both be current ThinApp 4.5 packages if either is built with 4.5. Relink makes it fast and easy to upgrade any packages needed. With relink, there is no need to recapture applications that work fine on other platforms.
  • Improved support for MSI packages:
  • Support for >2GB single file MSIs. As applications have grown in size over the years, it has become more and more common to generate deployment packages larger than 2GB however the MSI/CAB file formats do not support files larger than 2GB. ThinApp has always supported creation of EXE/DAT packages of any arbitrary size (100GB or more), and now with ThinApp 4.5, an industry first, ThinApp generated MSI packages can be larger than 2GB without requiring separate CABs or data files. Because native MSI & CAB don’t natively support file sizes above 2GB we pulled off some clever tricks to make this work. In the past if you wanted to deploy something like AutoCAD as an MSI package to end-users you had to split it up into multiple CAB files and wrap this in a ZIP file or other container (ZIP32 doesn’t support files larger than 4GB either). It simplifies many processes if you can work with one single file for deployment or point end-users to a single http link and tell them to “just run this file”. As before, ThinApp MSI files are still compatible with all versions of Windows Installer so you don’t need to worry about what your clients have installed.
  • MSI Install now twice as fast. MSI installation times have also dramatically improved in ThinApp 4.5. Compared with ThinApp 4.0.4, installing a ThinApp generated MSI is approximately twice as fast for both the case where the source MSI is located on the local hard drive or a network share.
  • Fast random access to MSIs from ThinApp Management SDK. The ThinApp Management SDK can be used to access data inside of ThinApp generated MSI files. In ThinApp 4.0.4, in order to access that data the entire CAB file needed to be decompressed. In ThinApp 4.5 we now have fast random access to data inside of MSI files so there is very little performance difference between operating on a ThinApp EXE/primary data container and a ThinApp MSI.
  • I/O performance improvements for VDI:
  • In 4.5, use of the system swap file is greatly reduced which means few disk I/O writes occur. In VDI environments with shared storage this will effectively allows you to support larger numbers of users per storage array. For example, in ThinApp 4.0.4 Word 2007 requires approximately 99MB in page file backing and in ThinApp 4.5 this is reduced to 88MB. When running multiple applications from a shared suite of applications the saving are even bigger. Launching Word, Excel, and PowerPoint simultaneously results in a 37MB page file backing savings with ThinApp 4.5.
  • Memory sharing improvements for suites of applications and Terminal Server:
  • In shared multi-user environments it is common to run many instances of a single application. For example 10 users may be logged into a single Terminal Server box each running their own instance of Microsoft Word. In ThinApp 4.5 pages from one instance of an application will be shared with other users running the same application even if they are logged into different sessions. This memory sharing also works with suites of applications like Office where a set of common DLLs are loaded into different applications (Word & Excel). For example, the MSO.dll library is loaded by all Office applications but only one copy of the DLL is actually present in memory if one user runs Word and another runs Excel. In order for this memory sharing to occur, the same package must be run by both users from the same location on disk (or network share).
  • Startup time improvements:
  • For many users, application startup time is one of the most important criteria for user acceptance. In ThinApp 4.5, many applications will start significantly faster. For example, Power Point 2007 loads approximately twice as fast compared with previous versions of ThinApp when launched from a local hard drive with a cold disk cache.
  • Bandwidth consumption improvements:
  • Compared with ThinApp 4.0.4, ThinApp 4.5 typically uses less bandwidth to stream an application from a network share during initial application startup. For Office 2007 applications, the amount of bandwidth consumed to stream an application from a network share has been reduced by approximately 50% (half the bandwidth required from 4.0.4). This improvement comes from a new build optimization process that performs static analysis on executable data and arranges packages such that less executable code needs to be present on client systems in order to begin execution.
  • New package.ini parameter: OptimizeFor:
  • ThinApp 4.5 adds a new optional package.ini parameter called "OptimizedFor" which can be set to either "Memory" (default) or "Disk". ThinApp's new performance and memory sharing features may result in larger package files. In the worst case scenario packages can be twice as large as before but in most cases the size difference, if any, is will be less significant. If disk size is more important than memory utilization and startup performance, you can set "OptimizeFor=Disk" in package.ini under [BuildOptions]. The result of such a change will cause package sizes to be similar as 4.0.4 and lower. In ThinApp 4.5, virtual executable files such as EXEs and DLLs are not compressed inside of packages on disk even when CompressionType=fast is enabled unless OptimizeFor=Disk is also set.
  • Support for capturing on partially non-clean PC:
  • In order to capture applications using Setup Capture, you need a clean instance of Windows so that a proper install diff can be generated. The most popular way to capture applications is to use a clean instance of Windows using VMware Workstation to run the installation and revert back to a clean snapshot. Guest VMs are a lot more usable with vmware tools installed in the guest however vmware tools installs some libraries such as a newer C runtime which could cause a resulting install capture diff to miss such libraries if the application also installs them. In ThinApp 4.5, when installing an MSI based application ThinApp 4.5 can automatically detect files and registry entries that the application requires even if those entries already exists on the capture PC. This results in correct captures even in the case where some libraries are installed on the PC. Our solution for detecting dependent registry keys and files is generic and should work with other libraries but at this point we only test the VMware Tools scenario and using a clean PC is still best practice. Our detection logic only works when both the libraries and captured application using MSI based installation.
  • Quality Reporting 1.0:
  • ThinApp 4.5 includes a new feature called Quality Reporting that can optionally be enabled to allow virtualized applications to report quality metrics to VMWare servers. When enabled, applications try to report the following information to qualityreporting.vmware.com via a simple http query once every 10 days.
  • Operating System version the application ran on
  • Name, Version, and vendor of the application
  • The Inventory name you selected for the application
  • Start and cumulative total execution time for the application
  • Number of executions of the application
  • Number of times crashes were detected during execution
  • Some clarifications about this feature
  • This feature doesn't transmit any data that can identify you, your company, or your license key
  • VMware doesn't record the IP address of clients making connections to report data
  • Enabling the feature does not impact the performance of the application
  • Data reported to the server is small (a few kilobytes) and occurs once every 10 days so has almost no network impact
  • This feature is invisible to end-users. There is no impact if network connectivity is unavailable.
  • Journaling of Virtual file system meta data and virtual registry:
  • This feature was included in ThinApp 4.0.4, but largely remained a secret. The purpose of journaling is to support the ability to recover gracefully in the event disk writes are incomplete or the disk state becomes inconsistent when sets of disk writes are not flushed atomically. Journaling is used by advanced file systems such as NTFS and most modern database systems but is absent in simpler file systems like FAT32. With previous versions of ThinApp there were cases where sandboxed virtual registry and file system could become corrupted.
  • Some examples include
  • Incomplete disk writes when sandbox is hosted on network share and network dies
  • Incomplete disk writes to USB devices if device is not properly ejected
  • Incomplete disk writes if application terminates abnormally during write operation
  • Incomplete disk writes when power failure occurs
  • Improved support for application white listing (AppLocker for Windows 7):
  • Application white listing systems allow desktop administrators to limit the set of applications a user can execute to a specific set included in a "white list." If the user tries to run an application not found in this white list, he/she will get an Access Denied message. This type of policy is used to ensure users cannot run applications downloaded from the Internet or brought in on USB keys. In ThinApp 4.0.4 and below, some "stub" executables for child processes were dynamically generated at runtime making it more labor intensive for Administrators to pre-define a white list which included all the processes the application might execute. ThinApp 4.5 removed the need to generate "stub" executables making it easier to include a ThinApp package and all of it's child processes in a whitelist. As an example, Office 2007 installs a service called MDM.exe which ThinApp runs as a virtual service when any Office application is first started. In previous versions of ThinApp it was necessary to include the ThinApp user entry points as well as the dynamically generated “stub” process name for MDM.exe in the white list. In ThinApp 4.5, white listing systems such as AppLocker will only see a multiple request to execute user entry points for virtual child processes where the child EXE is located inside the package. Effectively, if you white list a ThinApp package, you are white listing everything inside the package as well. If a virtualized application tries to execute a process not contained in the package, the normal white listing logic will occur.
  • User Interface Improvements:
  • ThinApp 4.5 has a new "Quick Start Video" to walk you through the process of capturing your first application and a some detail on each of the options you see exposed in the Setup Capture wizard. The video is only a few minutes long and If you haven't used ThinApp, it's a great way to get started. We've found that ThinApp is being used by an ever widening audience, it's not just for techie desktop administrators anymore. The ThinApp team also conducted some usability studies and made some changes based on the feedback we've received. Our long term goal is bring application virtualization to the most novice users while retaining the power and functionality expected by power users.
  • Quality improvements & Wine test:
  • Application compatibility is our #1 goal with ThinApp. If the applications you need to virtualize don't work then all the other features in the world don't matter. In ThinApp 4.5 we've resolved more than 300 issues and extended our testing in many directions. ThinApp has Quality Assurance teams in Palo Alto, Mumbia, Bangalore, and Beijing who have run through a suite of over seven million API test, 40,000+ automated application test, and 10,000+ manual application and feature test for ThinApp 4.5. These teams run test on a wide array of operating systems including NT4, Windows 2k, XP (32/64), Vista (32/64), Win7 (32/64), Server 2003, Server 2008 (32/64), Server 2008 R2 and a wide array of applications. Additionally the ThinApp engineering team has been working diligently with the Linux Wine team to collaborate on suites of automated test. A significant number of test fixes made by ThinApp engineering were contributed back to the Wine project, especially targeted at reducing the number of test failures on Windows 7. The ThinApp engineering team has also set up ‘WineTestBot’, a service which allows Wine developers to run tests on VMware Virtual Machines which run a large selection of Windows versions. The result of the collaboration is both Wine and ThinApp improve their quality.
  • ThinApp Community Portal for Applications:
  • In addition to the ThinApp Quality Reporting mechanism, ThinApp users can more actively participate in sharing packaging information with the community via the ThinApp Community Portal. The ThinApp community portal allows users to publish and share their ThinApp project files and packaging tips, and search for information about applications that other users have packaged

New in VMware ThinApp 4.0.4-204871 (Feb 6, 2010)

  • This release adds the following enhancements:
  • Journaling support for the virtual registry. This support prevents data corruption when an application fails during a write operation, a power failure, or an incomplete disk flush on a removable disk.
  • German and Japanese versions of the ThinApp User's Guide.
  • This release resolves these issues:
  • Microsoft SQL Server Express cannot run on Windows Vista Enterprise edition.
  • AutoCAD crashes on startup.
  • When you specify a sandbox location from the command line, NoMachine NX Client fails.
  • When you capture and configure Microsoft Outlook 2007 on a Japanese operating system, you cannot create .pst files.
  • MicroStrategy Server cannot generate Microsoft Excel data through the Windows Installer.
  • The thinreg.exe utility cannot unregister packages when you redirect the Start menu to UNC shares.
  • Mapping large virtual files into memory fails for the IMobileTC application.
  • When you use the Chinese version of Internet Explorer 6 with Service Pack 1, the Security and Advanced tabs of the Internet Options dialog box appear in English.
  • The IBM Rational 7.0.1 License Key Administrator cannot detect virtual registry keys.
  • The 16-bit component of Fiserv Organization Profitability System (OPS) cannot detect .dll files in the virtual environment.