application close, those changes would be saved to the remote repository.This demonstrates how UE-V changes the user experience. Roaming profiles replicate
changes only at logon and logoff. UE-V replicates application settings when the
application launches and is closed. For desktop settings such as the theme (desktop
background, sounds, and so on) and accessibility configurations, the changes are
replicated at logon, logoff, lock, unlock, connect, and disconnect. Internet Explorer 8
(and newer) is supported and is treated like any other application; settings are
replicated as the application is opened and closed. UE-V also works seamlessly with a
mix of locally installed applications and virtualized applications with App-V, giving a
single configuration for an application, no matter how it is implemented for users. For
power users, a PowerShell cmdlet can enable an individual’s application settings to be
rolled back to the default configuration. This is useful if a user has completely
corrupted their settings for an application. The default configuration is created the
first time an application is launched for a user and stored away in case a settings
rollback is required.
From a platform perspective, UE-V 2.1 SP1 is supported on Windows 7, Windows 8,
Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and
Windows Server 2012 R2, which means a single application configuration for any
session on any supported platform. While Windows Server 2016 is not supported at
the time of this writing, I would expect an update to UE-V to add this support shortly
after release. As long as the UE-V agent is installed and has the template registered for
the applications and desktop, then the user will have a consistent experience.
There is no server infrastructure for UE-V other than a file share to store the settings
packages for each user (who would have their own subfolder), or the user’s settings
packages could be part of their standard Active Directory–specified home drive. The
templates that detail what applications should have settings virtualized and that
document the various registry and filesystem locations that make up those settings
and need to be intercepted can be registered at the time of the UE-V agent installation.
The templates also can be stored on a file share, where the UE-V agent can be
configured to check for updates every 24 hours. This makes UE-V easy to deploy,
because most of the work will be just deploying the agent, which can be done
manually, through an enterprise software deployment (ESD) solution such as System
Center Configuration Manager or even through Group Policy.
The final component is to provide the applications. One option is to install the
applications into the operating system such as the RD Session Host or client OS in the
VM for VDI; however, this is a lot of overhead and hard to maintain. Another option is
to run applications separately on specific farms of session hosts that publish just the
applications to the virtual desktop. Another option is to leverage App-V, which like
UE-V is part of MDOP and is a great solution not just for virtual desktops but for
physical desktops as well.
App-V virtualizes the application separately from the operating system, with each
application running in its own virtual environment, or bubble. This bubble contains a