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Software is already packaged in self extracting packages (e.g. jar, zip, rar), I hear you cry. True.   But, the issues usually arise from little-known software dependencies.   This is particularly true with the latest BizTalk server – there are six packages that must be installed (and configured and fixed) before you can actually install the real software.

Wouldn’t it be great if the software came ready to run – zero installation?

It was during a very interesting discussion with the guys are vmware that it occurred to me that there is already a new and much more reliable method of software distribution just beginning to gain traction.

For those who aren’t familiar with vmware, they are one of the leaders in system virtualisation.  They allow you to run multiple operating systems on one server and each Instance of the OS in isolated from the other.   So, it’s entirely possible to run Windows, Linux, and DOS on the same physical machine.

The neat thing about vmware is the way the instances are physically stored on the server.   Each OS is stored in a virtual-disk (.vmdk) – it is a large file (gigabytes) that contains the complete OS, drivers and applications.  The vmdk file is also bootable from within the vmware container.  And because the entire system is now stored in a single file,   it makes them extremely portable and therefore easy to distribute.

And now the really good news.  Vmware not only offer the vmware player for free,   but now offer the server component free.   This means it now possible to create complete installations of software stacks and distribute them to anyone as complete vmdks and so achieving the dream of zero-installation. A quick browse to the vmware web site, and it’s clear that BEA, IBM and Oracle are already offering pre-build vmdks containing their complete platforms. These guys have managed to avoid the licensing issues by only using open source components, and more specifically the Linux OS. I’m not sure how Microsoft would feel about this way of distributing their OS.

So, I can now see a time when software will no longer be provided in setup.exe files, or a bunch of jar files.  Expectations for software delivery are now on the increase,   and I see a time when the majority of software will be provided on pre-built vmdks and require zero-installation.

I believe in the next 3-5 years pre-built vmdks will be a major requirement in the software evaluation and selection cycle. This could also open a new Pandora’s Box regarding licensing etc – especially for non-open source vendors.