Windows Virtual Desktop Is Generally Available

• Windows Virtual Desktop offers a Microsoft-managed, Azure-hosted virtual desktop infrastructure.
• The service could be useful for deploying remote desktops and applications without on-premises infrastructure.
• Use rights are bundled in Microsoft 365 and Windows Enterprise subscriptions, but do not include all costs.
• Customers should be aware that some data will be stored in U.S. Azure regions.

Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) became generally available in Oct. 2019. It provides a Microsoft-hosted managed service for hosting virtual desktops in Azure that is an alternative to Windows Server Remote Desktop Services (RDS). WVD could interest customers looking to move virtual desktops or hosted applications to the cloud or to deploy new virtual desktop environments without requiring on-premises infrastructure. However, several features on the service’s roadmap that could make the service more useful are unlikely to arrive until 2020.

Managed VDI and Session Hosts in Azure

Organizations can use WVD services to deploy, manage, and scale virtual desktops and applications, which in turn are hosted on Azure VMs deployed in a customer’s Azure tenancy. WVD can manage virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), in which clients connect to virtual desktops in both single-user VMs and multiuser session hosts, in which multiple users connect to a single VM usually running a Windows Server OS. For more information, see the illustration “Windows Virtual Desktop Architecture”.