Novell is licensing Xenocode’s application virtualization technology so users of its ZENworks Application Virtualization solution can deploy their applications inside a “virtual container” without any installation or configuration bother.

Virtual application deployment is supposed to eliminate application conflicts and compatibility problems on Windows desktops and let folks run legacy applications on Vista and deploy multiple versions of applications side-by-side in isolated “sandboxes.”

Built on Xenocode virtualization technology, ZENworks Application Virtualization includes pre-configured templates for popular business applications and is supposed to let users virtualize and deploy applications in as little as five minutes.

Unlike traditional hardware virtualization solutions that require an entire copy of the host operating system, application virtualization technology emulates the core operating system features required for application execution.

Organizations can use ZENworks Configuration Management, CD media, USB drives, the web and other network management software to deploy and manage their applications – simple .exe files that run immediately without requiring additional servers or other hardware, device drivers or player software. Security is assumed on locked-down systems since virtualized apps run without requiring access to the file system or registry.