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VMware ThinApp

Computer program that can make portable applications

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ2036703
Source-derived summary

VMware ThinApp (formerly Thinstall) is an application virtualization and portable application creator suite by VMware that can package conventional Windows applications into portable applications capable of running on another operating system. According to VMware, the product has a success rate of about 90–95% in packaging applications.

History

ThinApp (previously known as Thinstall) was originally developed by Jitit Inc. and was acquired by VMware on January 15, 2008. VMware later used the code name VMware Project North Star while the product was in beta. On June 10, 2008, VMware announced that the final name for the product was going to be VMware ThinApp. The trial version of Thinstall was initially available only to corporations, then VMware offered a public trial version.

Technology

VMware ThinApp provides application virtualization. ThinApp is able to execute applications without them being installed in the traditional sense by virtualizing resources such as environment variables, files and Windows Registry keys. The virtual environment shown to the client combines both physical and virtual resources, making it appear to the application as if it were fully installed and running.

Editorial summary

“VMware ThinApp” enters the record as computer program that can make portable applications. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what VMware, ThinApp and Computer can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2008—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around VMware, ThinApp and Computer.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“VMware ThinApp” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, VMware, ThinApp and Computer provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2036703. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2008.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “VMware ThinApp”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow VMware ThinApp primary sources, VMware ThinApp archive and VMware research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from VMware ThinApp” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.