Microsoft came out with a flurry of significant announcements at the end of 2024 covering application management and end-user computing (EUC). One of those announcements was that the previously announced end-of-life (EOL) date for App-V, Microsoft’s application virtualisation solution, was being scrapped. App-V will live on.
This was almost universally welcomed as a victory for common sense. After all, App-V has been around for decades, and while not without its flaws, it works. As a result, it is well ingrained and widely used in many organisations as a reliable application packaging and virtualisation format.
Being forced to move away from App-V altogether, as was the original Microsoft plan, would have been a major headache. It was a headache that some early responders went through anyway to get ahead of an EOL date that was ultimately dumped.
It would be understandable if those early responders felt frustrated when Microsoft announced that App-V was staying.
Maybe they didn’t need to make such big changes.
Or maybe they just got through the headaches early – headaches that others in similar situations will still have to go through, despite App-V remaining.
Why?
Because App-V Server is still very much on the big Microsoft deathbed in the sky. Its EOL date of April 2026 is locked in.
Life After App-V Server
For organisations that use App-V Server as their application delivery platform, there are really only three options:
- Stay with the App-V ecosystem as it is, even though App-V Server will no longer be supported by Microsoft.
- Remediate applications currently managed by App-V Server to desktop apps.
- Review, plan, and implement an alternative solution, such as transitioning to a modern application delivery framework.
For most organisations, the first option is a non-runner. There are too many cybersecurity, insurance, regulatory, and reputational risks of using soon-to-be unsupported legacy technology.
The second option is also a non-runner in most organisations because of the inevitable loss of control and increased complexity that will result.
That leaves the third option.
As with most things that Microsoft says and does in the EUC space, Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) offers an attractive solution for AVD customers. It is also a potential option for those minded to make the switch to Microsoft’s leading virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) product.
This is because when Microsoft announced that App-V was staying, it also announced that App-V is a packaging format now supported by App attach. This compatibility makes it possible to deliver applications in the App-V format to AVD. For AVD customers, it’s an attractive, least-path-of-resistance solution to overcoming the demise of App-V server
Importantly, though, there are also other options.
If you don’t use and have no intention of using AVD, you will have no choice but to look at the alternative options. On the positive side, those options are also modernisation opportunities.
A Headache and an Opportunity
The application packaging and delivery modernisation opportunities mentioned above include doing what Microsoft wants everyone to do – transition to its modern packaging format, MSIX.
Moving to platforms like Numecent Cloudpaging or Liquidware FlexApp are also viable options. Modern application management platforms like Cloudpaging and FlexApp have clear roadmaps for transitioning away from App-V. They are even supported by App attach, so they can be used with AVD.
Sure, changing your application packaging format and delivery platform to a modern ecosystem has the potential to cause headaches.
Products like our Access Capture solution can significantly reduce those headaches by automating some of the most complex and time-consuming parts of the process, including repackaging and testing applications in the modern format.
Plus, the benefits of moving away from legacy technologies to modern, future-ready platforms should not be ignored.
So, Where to Next?
The approaching EOL date for App-V server will cause inevitable changes for organisations that use it as an application delivery platform. If this applies to you, there are three main points to consider.
The first is that action should be taken sooner rather than later, as April 2026 will come around very fast. The second point is that there are multiple options available, from staying with App-V to moving to a modern format to restructuring your VDI strategy as part of the process. The final point to consider is automation, i.e., utilising the power of automation (with products like Access Capture) to make the move away from App-V Server as efficient and seamless as possible.
