Microsoft MED-V public Beta announced

Last week, Microsoft announced the release of the public Beta of Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V), a solution that is designed to help Enterprise organizations run older operating systems and applications on new Windows-based systems.

According to the company, MED-V can be used to give companies more time with their legacy operating systems and software applications while they upgrade their Windows environment. As an example, IT shops can continue to run Windows XP-based applications even while they upgrade to Vista.

MED-V is Microsoft’s first application released using the technology gained from Kidaro Managed Workspace, thanks to the Kidaro acquisition announced last March. Like many technologies acquired by Microsoft, the Kidaro product had to first go through a reengineering process in order to meet Microsoft’s strict criteria and standards before being rebranded and sold under the Redmond label. Remember how long it took for the Connectix (Microsoft Virtual Server) and Softricity (Microsoft App-V) products to come to market?

All of that sounds great. But are you confused yet as to what it really is and does? Does the messaging sound too familiar to other Microsoft offerings? Remember, the whole “legacy” offering was supposed to be solved with server and desktop virtualization, wasn’t it? And what about application virtualization or hosted desktop environments (VDI)? It can all be so confusing.

According to Ran Oelgiesser, senior product manager for MED-V, “our primary goal was to deliver an enterprise virtualization solution for the compatibility challenges that IT teams have with some of their line-of-business applications, during the upgrade to new operating systems (like Windows Vista).

“With MED-V 1.0, you can easily create, deliver and centrally manage virtual Windows XP or 2000 environments (based on Microsoft Virtual PC 2007), and help your users to run legacy applications on their Windows Vista desktops. No need to wait for the testing and migration of those incompatible applications to complete.”

So what MED-V does isn’t application virtualization. And it isn’t simply desktop virtualization. However, it does build on top of Microsoft’s desktop virtualization approach by using Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 as a client-side virtualization platform to host the legacy OS images that run the legacy applications. MED-V then seamlessly integrates the application with the user’s desktop, and the user has little reason to believe that a virtual desktop is running on their main desktop.

MED-V also handles storing and distributing the virtual machine images, provides updates, and implements corporate policies to control what data can be transferred between the virtual machine and the user’s desktop.

This technology is similar to what VMware does with ACE, Sentillion with vThere, as well as where MokaFive is headed with its Virtual Desktop Solution.

The final version of MED-V 1.0 is slated to be released in the second quarter of this year as part of Microsoft’s Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), a suite of virtualization and management technologies that extends the Windows platform by enabling user productivity anywhere, greater IT control of the desktop, and streamlined PC management.

Unfortunately for some, this means that if you aren’t willing to subscribe to Microsoft’s Software Assurance program, you won’t have access to it when it does release.

In the meantime, if you want to participate in the MED-V Beta to find out more about the product, you can enroll here. And for even more information, check out Microsoft’s MED-V Web site.