Server-Based Desktop Glossary

Desktop. Throughout this report, a user’s “desktop” is a collection of applications, such as Microsoft Office, installed on either the Windows client or Windows Server OS, and the user-specific data including the user’s settings and preferences stored for the OS and applications.

Local desktop. With a local desktop, the OS and applications are installed and run on a user’s local computer or device, such as a laptop or a tablet computer.

Server-based desktop. With a server-based desktop, the OS and applications are installed and run on an infrastructure that includes servers in a data center, and the user connects to this desktop across a network from her local computer, thin terminal, or mobile device. Organizations typically deploy server-based desktops for several reasons: to reduce the costs of PC management; to support a consistent user interface and applications across a variety of different computing devices, including tablets and smartphones that do not run the Windows client OS; and to increase security, because the organization’s data can be kept within the data center where the server-based desktop is running on centrally managed and secured servers.