Support Lifecycle App-V and the MSIX confusion

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Hey there,

 

It seems that some customers and users are a bit unsure in terms of the Lifecycle and the future of App-V when it comes to MSIX and how all fits together and what is the right strategy for the company moving forward.

 

When you look up the Support Lifecycle for App-V you found the Lifecycle for App-V 5.1 which is in Extended Support now (since January 2018) and running out of support in 2023.

This is just for App-V 5.1 – not for the App-V Client which is built into Windows 10. For these App-V Clients the support Lifecycle of the Windows Version where they are in will apply.

 

So from that point of view you are save with App-V. But what is this now with MSIX. Here the previous Blog might give some insights here.

But they Key Bullet points are:

  1. If you are investing in App-V now or have already in App-V > Your investment is safe.
  2. SO Investment in App-V is a good one as many learnings and Techs from App-V made MSIX possible...
  3. And with the things to come you are ahead of the curve – if you have App-V now.
  4. If you about to start with App-V now - Don't stop!

 

As the Insights are similar (based on AppX) it’s not like going from App-V 4 to 5 – it’s like going from 5 to 6 where you need to convert your existing App-V Packages into the new format. You can download the Tool here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/msix-packaging-tool/9n5lw3jbcxkf\#activetab=pivot:overviewtab

And this time it’s much easier from an inside perspective to make an App-V Package an MSIX Package rather make a App-V 4 Package an App-V 5 Package.

 

So again App-V can be seen as an (early) investment in MSIX.

To see what is coming in MSIX take  a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKCX4Rzfysk

I hope this clarifies some points.

 

Thanks

 

Sebastian Gernert - Escalation Engineer App-V