Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) enhances deployment and management of Virtual PC images on a Windows Desktop, while also providing a seamless user experience of a Virtual PC environment, independent of the local desktop configuration and operating system (OS).
MED-V leverages Microsoft Virtual PC to provide an enterprise solution for desktop virtualization. With MED-V, you can easily create, deliver and manage corporate Virtual PC images on any Windows desktop.
Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization is an integral component of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (aka MDOP), a dynamic solution available to Software Assurance customers, which will help reduce application deployment costs, enables delivery of applications as services, and helps to better manage and control enterprise desktop environments.

Enable legacy applications and accelerate upgrades to new operating systems

Incompatibility of legacy applications with the new version of Microsoft Windows can often delay enterprise upgrades to the latest version of Windows. Testing and migrating applications can take a while, and users are unable to take advantage of the new capabilities and enhancements offered by the new OS.
By delivering applications in a Virtual PC that runs a previous version of the OS (e.g., Windows XP or Windows 2000), MED-V removes the barriers to OS upgrades, and allows administrators to complete testing and to deal with incompatible applications after the upgrade.
From the users perspective, these applications are accessible from the standard desktop Start menu and appear side-by-side with native applications – so there is minimal change to the user experience.

Known Issues:

· File downloads do not follow web redirection rules.
· If the LAN adapter is disabled when a Workspace configured in bridge mode is started, and the adapter is later enabled, the network will not resume. Restarting the Workspace solves this issue.
· Workspace image download may be delayed if Windows update is running when it is started.
· When the user is required to change his domain password in order to login to Windows inside the Workspace, the client receives a notification about using the wrong username/password, rather than a notification that he should change his domain password.
· When expanding a DOS application (e.g. cmd.exe) window to full screen, the application window disappears.
· When the domain password is changed while the Workspace is running, and the Workspace is restarted, a wrong password notification appears on the client and the user is required to re-enter the new password.
· When installing MED-V using the command line, it is configured by default to launch after installation. This causes problems when installing MED-V in the system context. In this case it is required to use the START_MEDV=0 parameter.
· When working in full desktop mode, manual location changes of icons on the desktop are not saved between Workspace sessions.
· Multiple versions of the same Workspace created on the same machine are always assigned the same unique name. This may cause problems when multiple virtual machines with the same name attempt to join the domain.
· When transferring very large files using the file transfer tool, the transfer may fail.