You are an IT professional and you want to learn about the general concepts behind Windows user profile management before introducing Immidio Flex Profiles to your corporate IT environment?  Immidio provides a technical whitepaper that helps you with this.

Why are Windows user profiles so critically important for corporate IT environments? User profiles are about individual workspaces, each one reflecting its owner’s personality. They may well include business critical information represented by unique, user-specific data and settings related to desktops and applications.  In the past, when users only needed to deal with one physical desktop and one profile, things were relatively simple.  But now they tend to have access to corporate and private applications through multiple physical desktops.  In addition to that, remote desktops and the advent of virtual desktop infrastructures are making things even more challenging.  Using a wider spectrum of applications running on multiple desktops, with each desktop optimized for dedicated tasks, is the way users will be working in the near future.

But how can you manage user profiles efficiently in multi-desktop environments with different Windows versions, such as Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008?  If you always wanted to have a profound answer to this question, this whitepaper is for you.  Be prepared to get some technical insights that go beyond what Microsoft calls User State Virtualization.  The successful management of user profiles turns out to be of growing relevance, both for physical and virtual Windows desktop infrastructures.  In this whitepaper you can read how it’s done.

To learn more and download the Immidio whitepaper, please visit: http://immidio.com/SupportFiles/Windows-Profile-Management-v2.pdf

Earlier this month, the German IT magazine IT-Administrator published an extensive test of Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition. Sandro Lucifora, who performed the tests, states “Considering the positive license and price policy and the many possibilities, Flex Profiles should not be absent in any environment.”
“Because Immidio Flex Profiles supports user profiles across multiple Windows versions, like XP, Vista and 7, it is not only a user profile management solution, but also saves the administrator a lot of effort migrating to new Windows OS versions”, says Lucifora.

Download the full “Profiling für Fortgeschrittene” article (PDF, in German).

Interviews with CIOs, IT professionals and consultants show that user profile compatibility is among the most critical aspects in Windows 7 migration projects. Unfortunately, Windows XP stores user profiles in a different way than Windows 7. This may have some impact on centrally stored personal desktop and application settings in corporate IT environments. Immidio published a whitepaper describing how Flex Profiles uses profile segmentation that ideally suited to making user profiles cross-platform compatible. This whitepaper is particularly targeted at Windows XP to Windows 7 migration projects and at side-by-side scenarios using multiple versions of Windows simultaneously.

Immidio Flex Profiles is today’s most popular profile management product implementing profile segmentation separating and decoupling sets of application and desktop settings. Segmented profiles work on all Windows versions that are officially supported by Microsoft, both 32 bit and 64 bit. The general idea behind this concept is using a pre-configured base profile (e.g. default, local or mandatory profile) for common base settings and store individual system or application settings in associated individual files or archives.

To learn more and to download the whitepaper, please visit: http://immidio.com/SupportFiles/Win7-Migration-with-Immidio-Flex-Profiles.pdf.

There are many aspects that come to mind when migrating to Windows 7 in any environment. How to deploy the new operating system, re-package or virtualize applications, how to deploy those applications, etcetera.

What we’ve seen quite a lot in the past, when people were migrating to Windows XP, is that the migration of the users’ application settings was not considered. This resulted in several unpleasant experiences.

1. After migration the helpdesk gets overloaded with issues related to application settings. This also quite often created a bad image of the IT department.
2. After migration there is no way back and it restricts users to roam outside the locations that are migrated to the new OS (without a notebook). Because once you have logged onto the new OS, it’s better not to roam and log on to the old OS anymore.
3. Because of issue 2, many companies were forced to do a “big bang” migration, where all desktops were upgraded in a very short period of time, which resulted in even more focus on issue 1.

Many customers don’t want to go through this again and are looking for another way to get through this phase. With Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced we introduce a solution which helps you with a smoother transition to Windows 7 on the level of user experience and provide substantial benefit on managing Windows profiles after the migration as well.

Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced is a Windows Profile Management solution which solves a lot of issues and optimizes the overall user experience. This is achieved by decoupling and segmenting personal application settings from the underlying Windows OS and profile, making these settings available cross-Windows platform and creating a consistent user experience no matter what Windows OS the user is working on.

The approach for the Windows XP to Windows 7 migration is pretty straightforward and consists of the following steps.

Implement Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced in your current Windows XP environment.

1. Install the FlexEngine (tiny MSI) on each endpoint.
2. Configure the FlexEngine through Active Directory Group Policy with help of the provided ADM template.
3. Make sure the FlexEngine runs at Logon and Logoff for all users. (e.g. Logon and Logoff scripts).
4. Use the Flex Profiles Management Console to create application-specific configuration files for the application settings you want to “decouple” from the Windows Profile.

From this point on, the application settings you configured will be stored outside the Windows profile once a user logs off, on a location you configured (e.g. homedrive). Let users work in this situation for such a period of time that you are sure that all the configured application settings are “decoupled” for all users.

Implement Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced in your new Windows 7 environment.

What you need to do to implement Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced in the new environment is very dependent on the total migration scenario (like AD migration). But what we at least require is that you use the same location where you have stored the “decoupled” user settings. In each migration scenario, you at least need to install the FlexEngine on each Windows 7 device.

You can now deploy Windows 7 and applications using the deployment solution(s) you have in place at the pace you want to without migrating the “traditional” Windows profile. Once a user logs on to a Windows 7 desktop the FlexEngine will load all the personal application settings that were created by the FlexEngine in the Windows XP environment.

In the Windows 7 environment you could even decide to use a mandatory profile for all or specific users to get optimal logon and logoff times. Then you can decide which application settings users can modify and save by using the Flex Profiles Management Console.

The result

First, a smooth transition to Windows 7 while maintaining personal application settings. Second, take control of Windows profiles on Windows 7 from that point on. And third, you have just created a Windows XP and Windows 7 side-by-side desktop environment. Meaning users can now switch between these two OS’es with a consistent user experience, since the application settings that you decided on can now be roamed cross-platform.

This all results in much less overload on the helpdesk after migration, users can roam outside the locations that have been migrated and no (technical) pressure on a big bang migration!

Many of our Immidio Flex Profiles customers are successfully using the product on workstation platforms such as Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. Now some of them had the question if it is possible to use Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition in offline scenarios. The simple answer is YES!

Here is a short description on how to use Immidio Flex Profiles offline: The runtime component FlexEngine uses INI files to select the profile information to be stored when terminating individual applications or logging off from a user session. The profile information is written into ZIP files that are used to restore the profile information on application launch or at logon. In order to run Immidio Flex Profiles offline, you have to make sure that all required INI files and the user home folder – or any other location you want to store the profile archives at – are available offline.

This can be achieved by making sure that the INI files are accessible locally and that the user home directory is made available offline. The relevant settings are configured in User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Offline Files and in Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Offline Files in the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in. For details see Microsoft’s TechNet article “Configuring Group Policy for Offline Files”.

It’s about a month ago that we released Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition. The number of downloads and the positive feedback from our customers is way beyond our expectations. It looks like our profile management solutions is something many IT professionals are looking for. But why is that so?

User demands are sky-rocketing when it comes to modern IT infrastructures – leading to elevated expectations regarding computer usability, application performance and workspace control. In other words, today’s users want to be the center of the IT universe. They want to be in full control of their workspace and application settings, and they expect IT to work smoothly no matter if they are online or offline. This common vision of a user-centric application infrastructure encourages organizations to introduce desktop and application virtualization technologies on a large scale.

Windows user profiles play an important role in a modern desktop and application infrastructure as they preserve the individual settings between interactive logins. The profile management functionality built into Microsoft Windows is challenged by today’s requirements including multiple desktops per users, various application publishing methods and a range of virtualization technologies. As a consequence, profile management gets more and more attention as a profile is like a user’s digital personality, represented by the individual workspace and application settings. Today’s users expect that their personal settings are following them, independent of their physical location, Windows version, desktop engine and application delivery method.

Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition optimizes the management of user profiles for Windows desktops and applications provided through local workstations, terminal servers, Citrix Presentation Server / XenApp or Virtual Desktop Infrastructures (both 32-bit and 64-bit). This includes the application-specific handling of both registry settings and configuration files during user logon, user logoff, application launch, or application termination events.  Individual configuration files for different applications and workspace settings allow modifying the behavior of the Immidio Flex Profiles logic. Immidio Flex Profiles can be used in conjunction with local profiles, roaming profiles or mandatory profiles.

The advantage of Immidio Flex Profiles is that you get the performance and stability of mandatory or local profiles while still having the ability to retain customized user settings from their sessions. Simple INI configuration files determine which registry settings, files or folders should be retained within the profile. When configured properly, Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition provides extremely fast user logons and logoffs when compared to standard roaming profiles. This method also allows the simultaneous usage of Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003/2008 Terminal Services remote desktops in one environment; user-specific settings work cross-platform if Immidio Flex Profiles is used.

If compared to competitors, Immidio Flex Profiles has several advantages or unique selling points:

1. Low complexity with respect to the base concept of running FlexEngine as a command-line program and avoiding massive backend infrastructure. (no database server or web server required)
2. Superior granularity when handling application-specific segments of the user profile, easily configurable through individual INI files. (profile segmentation)
3. Low footprint of user profile data when looking at required disk space capacity and network bandwidth.
4. Intuitive graphical management console and application setting import wizard based on Microsoft Sysinternals ProcMon log files, reducing the effort to create Flex Profiles INI files significantly.
5. Enterprise-ready centralized management through Active Directory Group Policies.

Immidio Flex Profiles’ method of dividing user profiles into multiple segments decouples different personal configuration sets, with some of these configuration sets related to applications and others to individual groups of workspace settings.  As an example, Immidio Flex Profiles can make individual settings of Microsoft Word completely independent of a user’s preferred mouse settings – an obvious user requirement that is not available out of the box. 

In addition to that, profile segmentation allows for smooth migration and cross-platform scenarios where only selected application settings roam with a user while general workspace settings may be platform-specific.  Selected workspace settings, such as keyboard, mouse, Internet Explorer, certificates, screensavers and Windows Explorer, can be managed through dedicated product functionalities.  Combined with its minimal installation and backend footprint, Immidio Flex Profiles is ideal for today’s user requirements in modern virtualized Windows environments.

Today, we released Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition to the public. We added so many cool new features and enhanced both usability and performance that this edition of Flex Profiles really marks a major milestone. And the best thing is that Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition supports Windows 7 (!!!), Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. We made sure that user profiles can be used across several Windows versions now. And the other best thing is the brand new graphical management console for configuration files (INI files). And there are so many more best things. We are so excited…

Go and get your trial version of Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition now!

Immidio Flex Profiles Express Edition (version 6.0.x) and its predecessor Login Consultants Flex Profile Kit are well established user profile management solutions. Thousands of corporate customers around the world implemented one of these Flex Profiles freeware editions in their Windows environments. The reason for this is very simple: Flex Profiles is based on a proven methodology, it is lightning fast, it does not require extra backend servers and it only leaves a small footprint in memory and network – advantages appreciated by many IT professionals and system administrators.

Now, given the facts that Immidio Flex Profiles Express Edition is so good and available for free, why would anybody want to go for a retail edition of Immidio Flex Profiles? People started asking me this question since we announced a retail edition of Immidio Flex Profiles. In the following, I give you 11 good reasons making Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition an attractive option.

1. Support: Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition is an officially supported product, automatically taking advantage of the Immidio Response support offerings.
2. Additional operating system platforms: Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition was not only tested on Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services and Citrix XenApp 4.5/5.0, but is also supported on Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, extending the scope of Flex Profiles to the current server and workstation platforms. The upcoming Immidio Flex Profiles Version 7.0 will also support Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services.
3. 64 Bit: Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition is shipped with both 32-bit and 64-bit runtime components (FlexEngine), with the 64-bit FlexEngine allowing full access to the registry and the file system on 64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows.
4. Automated generation of application configuration files: Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition introduces a mechanism that automates the administrator’s work during the process of generating application-specific Flex Profiles configuration files (.ini files). As a result, Flex Profiles application configuration files can be produced easily by less experienced IT professionals and system administrators. This feature is also beneficial for more experienced IT professionals as it removes the need to manually go through some boring and repetitive activities when creating application configuration files.
5. Graphical management console: Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition includes a graphical workbench, providing an easy-to-use management environment for application configuration files (.ini files) and other important Flex Profiles settings.
6. Windows Group Policy integration: Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition hooks into Microsoft Active Directory, allowing central configuration of the Flex Profiles runtime component through Group Policy Objects in addition to the established command-line parameters.
7. Profile archive compression and streaming: Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition has built-in compression and streaming algorithms creating profile files optimized for networks with limited bandwidth.
8. Simple framework configuration: The free editions of Flex Profiles include so-called framework scripts for adaptation to individual customer requirements. All of the logic included in the framework scripts was moved into the runtime component of Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition, simplifying the configuration effort significantly.
9. On-demand elevated user privileges: Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition introduces an optional service that gives users access to predefined areas of the registry with elevated user rights. This allows the modification of a user’s individual password and certificate settings from a non-privileged context.
10. Application streaming support: Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition is compatible to application streaming and isolation technologies, such as Microsoft App-V.
11. Common settings: Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition supports a number of common Windows-related settings without the need for specific .ini files.

In summary, Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition was optimized to fulfill common requirements of corporate environments in terms of management, compliance and supportability. If you want to learn more about Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced Edition, contact us through info@immidio.com.