No, Island is not a virtualization platform. Island is an enterprise browser that provides a managed environment for secure application access, like VDI, but also delivers a lot more value with none of the drawbacks. For SaaS or web-based applications, Island offers a better option. Unlike VDI, it doesn't require substantial infrastructure or cloud costs and the user experience is dramatically better. Even if you have some applications that require virtualization, Island natively supports RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) and can serve as a client for web-streaming virtualized applications.

Virtual desktops are often used to fill a similar role as an enterprise browser. But there are some significant differences between the two technologies: VDI requires substantial infrastructure investments in terms of servers, networking, and virtualization software. Even when cloud hosted, the service cost reflects the large infrastructure requirement. VDI also puts a burden on users, with session interruptions, visual artifacts, or delays in application performance causing a serious tax on user productivity. For most organizations, shifting SaaS and web workloads out of VDI and into an enterprise browser will deliver significant cost savings and a dramatically better user experience.

In general, no. Island, the Enterprise Browser is not a remote browser or a virtualized browser. The Enterprise Browser is installed locally and receives policy and configurations from the cloud-based Island Management Console. This makes Island an infrastructure-light solution for customers. As part of the subscription service, Island bears responsibility for hosting and maintaining the cloud services used in delivering the service.

The end user experience was never the primary driver for implementing VDI. Virtualization requires trade offs: the benefits of centralized management and control come at the expense of end user experience. In real-world usage, VDI introduces login delays, session interruption, and inconsistent performance. By contrast, Island is installed locally and offers native performance with no unnecessary virtualization or network routing. End users get full performance and IT gets full management and control, no trade offs required.

No. Island, the Enterprise Browser, is based on the Chromium rendering engine, the same as Chrome, Edge, and many other browsers. This means that all SaaS and web applications that work with Chrome or Edge will work with Island. For legacy web applications that require Internet Explorer, Island also supports IE Legacy Mode.

Yes. All the management capabilities of Island, the Enterprise Browser, are delivered directly through the browser so it can be deployed on any device, whether it’s managed or unmanaged. This also offers flexibility in deployment where the Enterprise Browser is managed by one organization and the device is managed by another — for example, for clients working with a BPO.