The Scales Are Tipped Against Remote Desktop Services

• Remote Desktop Services remains a supported role of Windows Server, but it is being supplanted by Azure Virtual Desktop.
• Licensing restrictions and support policy limitations from Microsoft give advantages to AVD that are not available for other solutions.
• Organizations should avoid future investments in RDS, although it will remain a viable, if limited, solution until at least 2026.

Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is a Windows Server role that can be used to provide virtual or session desktops to remote users, and it is broadly used by organizations to host virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) in their own datacenters or through third-party hosting. Unlike Microsoft’s hosted Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) offering, RDS can be used in fully disconnected scenarios like remote worksites, does not require an Azure subscription, and can be deployed in third-party clouds.

However, Microsoft has largely ignored RDS development in recent years and given preference to AVD. For example, it has prevented use of multi-session editions of the Windows client OS on RDS, and limited support policies for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise on Windows Server, which particularly affects on-premises RDS customers. Although RDS remains supported and has not yet been deprecated or retired, Microsoft is clearly pushing customers to Azure for VDI, and any long-term investments in RDS should be avoided.