App-V Limitations

When using App-V in the scope of a larger desktop-deployment project, consider the following limitations:

· Support for 64-bit architectures. The current version of App-V is optimized for 32-bit (x86) platforms; thus, the sequencer and client cannot are not supported on any 64-bit (x64) platforms. A 64-bit version of the client is not yet available. You can install the App-V Management Console and Streaming Server on 64-bit server operating systems, but these components are only supported in Windows 32-bit On Windows 64-bit (WOW64).

· Application cache limit. The client limits the total space used for virtual applications to 1 TB in size, which means that the total size of all files deployed to one client computer cannot exceed 1 TB. It is possible to remove an application that is no longer used to free space in the cache.

· Application size limit. SFT files are limited to 4 GB. Large applications that result in SFT files that exceed 4 GB in size after sequencing are not supported.

· Applications that start as a service. The client can only start applications after a user has logged on to the client computer, which means that applications that run as a service when the computer starts cannot be sequenced into virtual applications. App-V can, however, virtualize applications that install services as dependencies.

· Support for operating system–integrated applications. Applications that are part of the operating system cannot be sequenced. A typical example is Internet Explorer. It is possible to sequence a plug-in, however, such as Microsoft Silverlight®.

· Application compatibility. Application virtualization does not remediate compatibility problems between Windows and legacy applications. It does, however, remediate compatibility problems between two applications. For example, if two applications use a different Java Runtime Engine version, they would typically not run on the same client computer. When sequenced, they now can run on the same client computer at the same time.

· Device drivers. App-V cannot virtualize device drivers. If an application installs a device driver, it may be possible to install the device driver locally and sequence the core application.

· COM+ or COM dynamic link library (DLL). Applications that use COM+ or COM DLL surrogate virtualization (DLLhost.exe) cannot be virtualized.

· Applications with licensing enforcement tied to machine computer. Applications that tie the license to the system’s MAC address should not be virtualized with App-V.

· Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) virtualization. Virtualized applications that use MAPI will use the MAPI interfaces in the underlying client operating system. MAPI resources—for example, profiles—are shared by all MAPI applications on a client computer rather than isolated.

· Click-once updates. Applications that use “click-once” technology for application updates should not be virtualized by using App-V.