On Friday the 15th november we were at the M.A.D. Event in Hamburg, organized by Microsoft Hamburg and Andreas Nick. The biggest announcement was that the App-V Client and Sequencer have moved to extended support, but the App-V server components are still deprecated, with support ending in April 2026.

  • App-V Server still deprecated: The Microsoft App-V Server components are still deprecated with support ending in April 2026.
  • App-V Client and Sequencer are not deprecated anymore: The App-V client and sequencer have moved to extended support and are no longer deprecated. Future development will be limited to bug fixes and security updates, without the addition of any new features. Tim Mangan delivered an new version 2.0 of TMEdit (App-V Editor).
  • Pricing: There are no changes to App-V’s existing pricing model as part of extended support.
  • Migration Considerations: If the current feature set of App-V works for you, there’s no need to migrate away. For cloud migration, App-V app attach allows you to use your App-V packages with Azure Virtual Desktop.
  • MSIX Format: MSIX is a Windows app package format that provides a modern packaging experience and is an alternative to the virtualized App-V format. It enables new, modern packaging and deployment features to Win32, WPF, and Windows Forms apps. Tim Mangan told at the event that the current succes rate he had was around 90% with the use of PSF. Tim released a new version of TMEditX on november 3rd.
  • Conversion Tools: Microsoft provides tools like the MSIX packaging tool to automate conversion from App-V to MSIX, which is the modern standard for Windows app delivery.
  • AppAttach: Formerly known as MSIX AppAttach, will expand its capabilities to support the delivery of both MSIX in AppAttach format and App-V packages.

Should I Consider Migrating Away from App-V?

If the current features of App-V meet your needs, there’s no immediate requirement to migrate. However, if you’re planning to transition from on-premises to the cloud, App-V app attach offers the flexibility to use your existing App-V packages with Azure Virtual Desktop. Possible other solutions to support App-V for a longer time are AppVentix or the open source App-V project by Andreas Nick.

For more information, check the App-V support policy, here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-desktop-optimization-pack/app-v/appv-support-policy

 

Paul Cobben