Q. What Is VMware View?
A. VMware View is a desktop virtualization solution that simplifies IT manageability and control while delivering the highest fidelity end-user experience across devices and networks . The VMware View solution helps IT organization automate desktop and application management, reduce costs, and increase data security through centralization of the desktop environment. This centralization results in greater end-user freedom and increased control for IT organizations. By encapsulating the operating systems, applications, and user data into isolated layers, IT organizations can deliver a modern desktop. It can then deliver dynamic, elastic desktop cloud services such as applications, unified communications and 3D graphics for real-world productivity and greater business agility.

Unlike other desktop virtualization products, VMware View is built on and tightly integrated with vSphere, the industry leading virtualization platform, allowing customers to extend the value of VMware infrastructure and its enterprise class features such as high availability, disaster recovery and business continuity.

Q. What’s New in VMware View 5?
A. View 5 includes many enhancements to the end-user experience and IT control. Some of the more notable features are

• PCoIP Optimization Controls deliver protocol efficiency and enable IT administrators to configure bandwidth settings—by use case, user or network requirements—to consume up to 75 percent less bandwidth.
• PCoIP Continuity Services deliver a seamless end-user experience regardless of network reliability by detecting interruptions and automatically reconnecting the session.
• PCoIP Extension Services allow Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) based tools to collect more than 20 session statistics for monitoring, trending and troubleshooting end-user support issues.
• View Media Services for 3D Graphics enable View desktops to run basic 3D applications—such as Aero, Office 2010, or those requiring OpenGL or DirectX—without specialized graphics cards or client devices.
• View Media Services for Integrated Unified Communications integrate voice over IP (VoIP) and the View desktop experience for the end user through an architecture that optimizes performance for both the desktop and unified communications.
• View Persona Management (View Premier editions only) dynamically associates a user persona with stateless floating desktops. IT administrators can deploy easier-to-manage stateless floating desktops to more use cases while enabling user personalization to persist between sessions.
• View Client for Android enables end users with Android-based tablets to access View virtual desktops.
• Enhanced Security Settings enable client certificate handling customization using an established browser certificate model.
• Support for VMware vSphere 5 leverages the latest functionality of the leading cloud infrastructure platform for highly available, scalable and reliable desktop services.

For additional details and features available in VMware View 5.0, see the release notes.

Q. How does VMware View work?
A. With VMware View the desktop components are “decoupled” from physical devices and delivered as a managed service from a centralized location such as the datacenter or from the cloud. VMware View also enables the delivery of a Modern Desktop by virtualizing the desktop OS, applications and the user data. End-users can connect to their desktops, applications and data from multiple devices and across any network connection for an optimized and familiar desktop experience. By centrally managing the desktops, applications and user data in the data center, organizations benefit from improved manageability and control while end-users benefit from flexible access and improved levels of service.

Q. What is included in VMware View 5?
A. VMware View 5 is available in two editions:

1. VMware View Enterprise — includes VMware vSphere Desktop, VMware vCenter Desktop, and VMware View Manager.
2. VMware View Premier — includes VMware vSphere Desktop, VMware vCenter Desktop, View Persona Management, VMware vShield Endpoint, VMware View Manager, View Client with Local Mode, VMware View Composer and VMware ThinApp.

View Persona Management is the latest addition to View Premier edition. Local Mode allows users to check in and check out their virtual desktops to local machines. VMware ThinApp streamlines application packaging and delivery. View Composer lets customers rapidly create desktop images from a single parent image. vShield Endpoint offloads and centralizes antivirus solutions.

Q.What optimizations are available for the PCoIP display protocol?
A. PCoIP is an adaptive display protocol built to deliver the best possible end-user experience. Changes to the lossless codec of rich and clear type fonts have increased the protocol’s bandwidth efficiency. Additionally, two new settings can be proactively adjusted to optimize the user experience. The new settings—client-side caching and build-to-lossless functionality—can be configured by use case or user to dramatically decrease bandwidth consumption.

Q. When would I use these optimization settings?
A. Customers with users in high-latency, low-bandwidth environments such as offshore or remote locations can use the settings to configure PCoIP to use less bandwidth per session—thereby increasing user density, scalability and the quality of the user experience on the WAN.

Q. How do PCoIP Continuity Services work?
A. PCoIP Continuity Services automatically reconnect the user session within 30 seconds of a session disconnect—common in Wi-Fi and 3G networks. Within the 30-second window, the user does not need to enter login credentials. If the session cannot reconnect within 30 seconds, the user must enter login credentials to reconnect.

Q. What statistics are available from PCoIP Extension Services?
A. Four categories of statistics are collected: General, Imaging, Network and USB. Examples of these statistics include transmission and receive for audio, bandwidth used, session duration, imaging encoded, and round-trip latency. These statistics can be imported into any WMI-based tool for trending, monitoring and troubleshooting.

Q. What vSphere platform versions work with View 5?
A. View bundles include vSphere Desktop 5 and vCenter Desktop 5. View 5 is compatible with vSphere version 4 and higher. View the VMware compatibility matrix.

Q. Which unified communications vendors have solutions for View 5?
A. Leading unified communications vendors deliver support for View Media Services for Unified Communications. Read the press release for more information. Partner-delivered solutions will work in conjunction with existing VoIP solutions on the market today. Customers who own VMware View and unified communications solutions from the VMware integration-partner ecosystem do not need to purchase any additional products.

Q. What is the significance of the View and unified communications integration?
A. View Media Services for Unified Communications enable integrated VoIP and desktops for a seamless user experience. The integration architecture enables IT to set different quality-of-service (QoS) levels for both the virtual desktop and VoIP traffic. The partnership between VMware and unified communications vendors delivers the only supported, scalable solution for real-world use cases.

Q. Which 3D applications are supported in View?
A. View Media Services for 3D Graphics support Windows Aero, Office 2010, and applications requiring OpenGL 2.1 and DirectX 9. Specialized graphics cards or client devices are not required to enable this capability.

Q. Are Microsoft Roaming Profiles required for View Persona Management?
A. View Persona Management has no dependency on roaming profiles but works seamlessly with roaming profiles already deployed in the environment. View Persona Management supports Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 operating systems.

Q. Can View Client for Android connect to any View environment?
A. All VMware View clients for mobile devices (iPad and Android) require a back-end infrastructure of View 4.6 or higher to connect the user session.

Q. What is VMware ThinApp?
A. VMware ThinApp virtualizes applications for increased compatibility and streamlined management. Applications are separated from the underlying operating system and packaged with a virtual operating system as an EXE or MSI file. Applications packaged with ThinApp can be run on servers in the datacenter or even a shared network drive and accessed through a shortcut on the virtual desktop.

Q. How do I know if a Thin Client device will work with VMware View?
A. VMware has a Thin Client Certification Program for VMware View and several thin client devices have earned the status of “VMware Ready Certified “ including Linux-based thin clients. For a complete list, please see our Thin Client Compatibility Guide.

Q. What is View Client with Local Mode?
A. View Client with Local mode allows VMware View virtual desktops to be moved between the datacenter and physical desktop devices with security policies intact. Virtual desktops may be “checked out” onto a physical device such as a laptop enabling users to work when they are not connected to the network. Changes to the desktop are then “checked in” to the datacenter to intelligently synchronize the desktop when the user goes back online.

Q. How does vShield Endpoint help to enable protection of VMware View virtual desktops from viruses and malware?
A. vShield Endpoint builds upon vSphere’s unique introspection abilities to enable offloaded anti-virus and anti-malware (AV) solutions, eliminating agent sprawl and AV storm issues. vShield Endpoint simplifies AV administration in virtualized environments by centralizing AV deployment, minimizes the risk of malware infection in VMs, logs all AV events for audit purposes.

Q. Does VMware View work with USB connected peripherals such as local printers, storage devices, scanners, keyboards, mice or other devices on the client?
A. VMware View supports a number of devices connected via USB to the client through support for USB redirection. Any device that is USB 1.1 or 2.0 compatible may be used with the VMware View solution, provided they are connected to a device running the VMware View Windows client.

Q. How is VMware View licensed? How are View Client with Local Mode connections counted?
A. VMware View is licensed on a concurrent connection basis. A View desktop that is actively in use by an end-user will count as a concurrent connection. Additionally, each checked-out local mode desktop is counted as one concurrent connection. See the VMware View End User License Agreement (EULA) or Product, Pricing & Licensing FAQs for more details on licensing.

Q. Do I have to upgrade my deployment to 5.0 in order to expand my current View environment?
A. No. All View customers can downgrade their View 5 license purchases to View 4.6. Customers will be able to add users to their environments without disruption while planning for the upgrade.

Q. How do I upgrade from View 4.x to View 5?
A. Existing VMware View 4.x customers with current Subscription and Support (SnS) contracts are entitled to a free upgrade to the corresponding edition of View 5. View customers should check the VMware license portal for the licenses. The new features in VMware View 5 are included in both the Enterprise and Premier editions. VMware View Enterprise 4.x customers who want advanced capabilities such as Persona Management must purchase the View Premier Upgrade SKUs. See the View 5 Pricing, Licensing, and Upgrading Guide View 5 Guide for more information.

Q. Are any price promotions are available for View?
A. Visit the promotions page for the latest View promotions.

Q. What’s the best way to get started evaluating VMware View?
A. We recommend trying the free 60-day evaluation of VMware View, which includes VMware vSphere 5, vCenter 5, vShield Endpoint, VMware View Manager 5, VMware ThinApp 4.6 and VMware Workstation 7.1. You will additionally need Microsoft Active Directory (not included) to run the VMware View Manager 4.6 evaluation.

Q. Are professional services necessary to deploy VMware View?
A. VMware Professional Services and VMware accredited partners have several years of experience implementing VMware View for customers. Organizations may wish to seek their expertise to expand and optimize a View installation and achieve rapid time to market. For those interested in learning how to install, configure and manage VMware View and the new components, VMware Education Services offers hands-on training courses to provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to implement and deploy. In addition, VMware provides self paced tools and resources in the VMware View Eval Center on vmware.com.

Q. How do I find a VMware partner with VMware View experience?
A. VMware partners who are part of the “VMware Desktop Competency” have demonstrated their excellence in deploying VMware View. Your VMware Sales team can help you identify a VMware reseller in your area with VMware View experience or you can search the listings of VMware resellers, consultants, distributors and direct resellers using our Partner Locator.