Microsoft recently announced the public preview of Windows Virtual Desktop. The platform has been in private preview since last September. Microsoft has been working on scaling and optimizing it for multisession Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus virtual desktop and app experiences. Now, all customers can access the tool to deploy and scale Windows desktops and apps on Azure. Here’s what you need to know before getting started.
Key Features
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If you’re not already familiar with Windows Virtual Desktop, you can use it to set up a flexible and scalable environment in your Azure server without the need for additional gateway servers. You can also use it for deploying and managing virtual desktops, whether you’re interested in publishing a full desktop or individual remote apps that run from a single host pool. And you can assign and securely connect users to your virtual desktops.
Accessing Windows Virtual Desktop
An Azure subscription is required for those who want to deploy and manage virtualization environments using Windows Virtual Desktop. If you’re already signed up, you can simply choose the type of virtual machines and storage that suit your environment’s needs. There are also plenty of opportunities for cost savings, including discounts in Reserved Instances and using multisession Windows 10.
For those using Windows 10 and Windows 7 desktops or apps who are also existing Microsoft 365 F1/E3/E5, Windows 10 Enterprise E3/E5, or Windows VDA customers, there are no additional costs. There’s also no additional cost for existing Microsoft RDS Client Access License (CAL) customers who want to create Windows Server desktops and apps.
During this public preview period, you can deploy desktops and apps on VMs in any Azure region, but the management solution and data from them will reside in the US East 2 region, which could result in data transfer to the United States. However, Microsoft will start to roll out data localization and a more fully featured management solution for general availability.
Featured image: Freerange Stock
