VMware buys application-based virtualization vendor

by Agam Shah

January 15, 2008 —

In a bid to boost its desktop virtualization portfolio, VMware on Tuesday agreed
to acquire application-based virtualization vendor Thinstall.

The acquisition will boost VMware's
virtualization technology to deploy, update and manage desktop environments,
said Ed Albanese, senior product marketing manager at VMware.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Formed in 1999, Thinstall
develops a platform that delivers applications to clients without the need for
pre-installed software. Thinstall packages an application and delivers it to
a desktop, where an application operates in its own sandbox, overcoming hardware
and OS compatibility issues, Albanese said.

It is designed to work with VMware's Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI),
which allows users to access virtual desktops remotely from a traditional PC
or thin client.

Thinstall employees will be relocated from San Francisco to VMware's headquarters
in Palo Alto, California. The deal is expected to close later this quarter,
VMware said in a news release.

VMware will boost the distribution of VDI and Thinstall technology through
its acquisition, also announced Tuesday, of the assets of Foedus,
a Portsmouth, New Hampshire, provider of virtualization technologies and services,
Albanese said.

IDG News Service