Word of the Day – application virtualization

“Unfortunately, some apps can’t or shouldn’t be virtualized. For instance, kernel-based device drivers won’t work with any of the application virtualization products on the market today. Adobe Acrobat, for example, which has a printer driver, can’t be virtualized. “– Bridget Botelho

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is application virtualization, which separates the installation of an application from the client computer that is accessing it. There are two types of application virtualization: remote and streaming. Remote applications run on a server and end user devices view and interact with applications over a network by using a remote display protocol. With streaming applications, the virtualized application is actually executed on the end user’s computing device. When an application is requested, the required components are downloaded to the local computer on demand.