Altiris Adds Virtualization Platform For PCs

"It's meant to solve problems in software management, deployment, installation, and conflict management," says Rich Bentley, market segment manager for Altiris. "We're looking to decouple the application from the operating system to create virtual applications that can basically run without an installation process."

Software Virtualization Solution abstracts the installation of an application's files and registry settings to allow the application to be deployed and used without altering the host operating system or conflicting with other applications, Bentley says.

Software Virtualization Solution can be centrally managed and places applications and data in managed units that can be instantly activated, deactivated, or reset without altering the basic Windows installation. The product enables same-system hosting of multiple versions of an application without conflicts between older and newer files.

The virtualization product only affects how application files and registry settings are installed and not how they are used or run, leaving support unchanged, Bentley says. Applications continue to execute normally and behave as expected with negligible degradation or system or application performance or loss of application functionality, he says.

In subsequent releases, Altiris plans to expand its virtualization products to complete virtual patching, and to address server applications, he says.

Software Virtualization Solution will be available in the fourth quarter and is priced at $29 per node. It will also be available as a component of the Altiris Client Management Suite.