Jul 12 2009
Xenocode update
Where to find the standalone .exe files for Xenocode virtualized applications.
Just wanted to post an update on my earlier post about application virtualization and Xenocode.
Xenocode apparently decided to pull the standalone .exe downloadable files from their website, and instead would like you to install a plugin called Spoon. Spoon enables you to run the virtualized application through your web browser by visiting Xenocode’s site. Not something I want to do, especially since my main use of this technology is to do browser testing in one VM.
I run a Windows XP VM and would like to have IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Safari and Chrome all running on the same VM. I also wanted standalone applications I could click on and use even when I was offline. Those .exe downloads had proven to be that solution. Also, I wanted to carry these .exe files around in a USB drive, so that I could pull up a browser version I wanted on another machine. So I dug a little further into it.
After installing the spoon plugin, I went to the Xenocode browser site and launched a browser. It took forever to get going and launch the application. A few days later I launched the same application again and found that this time, it launched almost instantaneously. That got me thinking, so I tried a few other applications and found that ALL the .exe files are actually cached on your system the first time you launch an application. Which explains why it takes forever to launch the first time, but the subsequent launches are quick.
You can copy them from the Spoon plugin cache on your hard drive, it’s located here:
C:\Documents and Settings\< Your Username >\Local Settings\Application Data\Spoon\Cache\So they haven’t gone away, it’s just a little harder to get to.