ThinPrint is now offering a free Desktop Extension toolkit to optimize VDI environments. The new Desktop Extension enables existing and future ThinPrint customers to seamlessly integrate VDI printing into their printing environment.

With Desktop Extension, ThinPrint’s .print 8.0 can now deliver its key print management solutions benefits seamlessly for VDI printing including, high performance print data compression, connection specific bandwidth control, SSL encryption of print data, a tracking service for analyzing printing costs, various print management and efficiency options, and a proprietary driver-free printing technology. The base-level ThinPrint technology is already integrated on an OEM basis into all desktop products from VMware.

One of the most important features of ThinPrint’s Desktop Extension is the "session-in-session" technology, which makes it possible to print via multiple sessions from the Citrix ICA protocol, the Microsoft RDP protocol, or the VMware PCoIP protocol. This ensures that the right printers are available for the user when virtual desktops use applications on the terminal server.

Also incorporated in the Desktop Extension, ThinPrint’s Virtual Channel Gateway facilitates ideal cooperation between desktops and a central print server. This allows printouts even to local printers or home offices from the print server with no administrative effort. Desktop Extension also includes the V-Layer technology developed by ThinPrint, enabling complete, streamlined management of original printer drivers from a central location.

The central management of printer allocation has also been improved.  With minimum effort through GPOs (Group Policy Objects), the AutoConnect feature allows system administrators to set which printers are to be made available to which desktops or users – all from a central location. Desktop Extension is free and existing customers can download it as an individual component. The extension is an integrated component of .print Engine, .print Application Server Engine and .print RDP Engine.