Working on a Proof of Concept and was wondering what everyone out there does?

[kappyninewood]

So I'm in the middle of a POC, but we're not replacing the users desktops, just giving them an additional desktop so they can TEST.  The users are currently using Windows XP, and the new ENVIRONMENT will be Windows 7.  So my question is what is everyone doing out there in this situation? Are you doing the same and identifying USE cases and then using dual desktops during  the testing period? Also, I know I will run into application compatibility issues going from XP to Win 7, how did everyone handle this portion? ThinApp?

[mittim12]

We identify use cases and then allow users to continue using their PC to access VDI.   What you may find is that to force people into the VDI session you may have to remove some of the apps installed on their base image. 

Also from an application capatability standpoint we just approached it on a case by case basis.

[mclark]

We have done basically the same thing. We are transitioning from Windows XP physical machines to Windows 7 View desktops slowly. What I've done is leave their desktops in place but powered off "just in case" while they use the new thin clients. I've had some people who after a few weeks have asked me to come pick up their physical desktops because they don't want them any more. I have assessed the applications they are using and I get them ThinApp'ed before they get a View desktop. I've only hit 1 application that had trouble going from XP to 7 in ThinApp, and that was solved with help from VMware ThinApp support, and it was more of a custom vendor application.

[dvhorvath · Accepted solution]

It's not a VMware tool, but Microsoft's Application Compatibility Toolkit might be able to help you identify potential issues with Windows XP applications and remediate or mitigate them before moving to Windows 7. You can download version 5.6 here: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=7352. I've used it before, and it's generally pretty useful. As with ThinApp though, it really helps to know your applications when using the ACT.

As for adoption by test users, I have found that if you give them two options during the test period, they will inevitably gravitate back to their old familiar traditional PC over the new View desktop, even if the View desktop performs better. The best results I've gotten were to power off the old PC and give the users thin clients to test with, like one of the other posters suggested. Another option would be to change the shell for the user in question (on their existing PC) to the VMware View Client so that's all that shows up when they log in. All of their stuff would still be there on the PC, but they couldn't really get to it in the way they're familiar with, so they'd have to use the View desktop for the duration of the testing. Then, when the testing is over, you could just change the shell back to Explorer.exe.

The shell can be set using the following registry value:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\shell

Just change that from Explorer.exe to the full path to the View Client.

Dave