A help-desk technician must allow a group of Windows 11 laptops to run a decade-old inventory program that only supports Windows 7. Management does not want users to see or manage an entire guest OS, and overhead must remain minimal. The program should appear in the local Start menu yet run in its own isolated layer. Which virtualization approach BEST meets these requirements?
Publish a full Windows desktop to the users through a VDI pool hosted in the company datacenter.
Package the program with an application-virtualization platform so it streams and executes in an isolated runtime on each laptop.
Create a dedicated Windows 7 virtual machine for each user and have them launch the software inside the guest OS.
Build a Docker container that hosts the application and provide access through a web browser.
Application virtualization packages the program and any required registry or DLL files into an isolated runtime that is streamed to each workstation. The application launches from the host's Start menu and interacts with the user as if it were locally installed, but it remains separated from the underlying operating system, avoiding compatibility conflicts and keeping resource use low. Deploying a full Windows 7 virtual machine would satisfy compatibility but forces users to manage an entire guest OS and consumes far more CPU, RAM, and storage. A VDI pool likewise delivers a whole desktop session, exceeding the stated need and adding data-center dependencies. A Docker container is designed for Linux-based workloads and would still require a presentation layer for Windows applications, making it a poor fit in this context.
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