UPDATED 00:24 EDT / MAY 19 2016

NEWS

VMware ditches Windows for all-new HTML 5 vSphere client

VMware Inc., says admins will soon only be able to operate vSphere from its HTML 5 client, because it’s about to stop developing its Windows client.

In a blog post announcing the decision, VMware points out that it’s already adopted HTML 5 clients for many of its other products. It held back on vSphere because it’s one of its biggest products, but development of the HTML 5 client was more or less completed back in March 2016 when it rolled out an unsupported, experimental version. That was essentially a beta for the real thing, which VMware says will be launched into general availability soon.

The Register says it’s expecting a new client to appear alongside the new version of vSphere, which is set for launch this August when Vmworld 2016 rolls around.

While it’s no surprise that VMware has created a HTML 5 client for vSphere, its decision to drop the Windows client may raise a few eyebrows. VMware says the decision was made because updating the Windows client would have necessitated a “huge investment” and that would have meant directing resources away from the development of the HTML 5 client.

“We decided to focus on bringing the new vSphere Client (HTML 5 based) up to speed as fast as possible, simultaneously offering a great user experience and getting off of Flash,” wrote VMware’s senior product manager Dennis Lu.

Lu added in his post that VMware will continue to support its current web client “for some uncertain period”, in order to let third-party companies port their web client plugins to the new HTML 5 client.

Image credit: VMware Inc.

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