Windows Server 2016 RDS Enhancements

Windows Server 2016 will include improvements to the Remote Desktop Services (RDS) role that hosts server-based desktops. Server-based desktops may reduce overall client management costs, better secure data, and deliver Windows applications to tablets, smartphones, and other devices. Improvements should enable organizations to provide OpenGL applications to users through RDS, easily configure RDS to host either virtual desktops or session desktops based on Windows Server 2016, and deliver a more secure and easier-to-deploy infrastructure than before. The updated RDS requires upgrading to Windows Server 2016, which may have server and client licensing repercussions.

Graphics Applications and Pens

Several new features included in Windows Server 2016 are intended to help organizations deliver server-based desktops that will enable graphic-intensive applications and leverage tablet-based Windows 10 features.

Previous versions of RDS were not capable of delivering server-based desktops running Windows applications that required Open Graphics Library (OpenGL) APIs. OpenGL is a multiplatform set of graphics APIs that work in tandem with a graphics processing unit (GPU) to deliver high-performance 2D and 3D graphics. OpenGL is commonly used for many business-critical computer-aided design (CAD) applications like Autodesk’s AutoCAD, graphics applications like Adobe Photoshop, and other modeling, rendering, and animation applications.