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Universal Remote Desktop Coming To Windows 10 Soon 125

Posted by timothy from the continue-'em-if-you-got-'em dept.
jones_supa writes: For those using the Continuum feature of Windows and who work from home or in the office, you'll be pleased to know that the Remote Desktop Universal app is not only happening but will be released soon as a Technical Preview. This follows up on the Remote Desktop preview, which is already available for PC. The news came from Jason of the Microsoft Continuum team: "We've heard a lot of buzz around being able to connect to a remote desktop from Continuum for phone. We are excited to share that the Remote Desktop Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app will be released very soon in Technical Preview."
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Universal Remote Desktop Coming To Windows 10 Soon More

Universal Remote Desktop Coming To Windows 10 Soon

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  • What is it? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 15, 2015 @02:03PM (#51123233)

    OK slashdot: you need to get a grip. You are losing readership rapidly. But some effort into it: in the summary, explain what the feature is, explain what Continuum. No, I don't want to visit 5 links to figure out what you are talking about. It should be in the summary. Do your job, or close up shop.

    • Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)

      by Grishnakh ( 216268 )

      They need to just throw in the towel and shut down. It's absolutely pathetic.

      Heck, if my workplace didn't block Reddit, I probably wouldn't bother much with this place.

      Another good place is Hacker News at https://news.ycombinator.com/n... [ycombinator.com]. Unfortunately my workplace connection usually won't let me go there either.

    • Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)

      by geekmux ( 1040042 )

      OK slashdot: you need to get a grip. You are losing readership rapidly. But some effort into it: in the summary, explain what the feature is, explain what Continuum. No, I don't want to visit 5 links to figure out what you are talking about. It should be in the summary. Do your job, or close up shop.

      Do your job?...Hmm, let's take a look at today:

      Seattle Passes First Uber Drivers' Union Into Law

      "Credible" Bomb Threat Closes, Evacuates All Los Angeles Public Schools

      Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Now Can Perform Marriages In New Zealand

      I'd love to know what "job" you think they still have around here, since it's quite obvious the content has fuck-all to do with News for Nerds anymore.

      • Discussions of both Uber and FSM have been pretty common round here, and amongst nerds/techies in general, for quite a long time. The bomb threat story might be covered under "Stuff That Matters". I don't see the problem.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It's yet another attack vector into your Microsoft Windows system. Given Microsoft's record for producing professional quality software, I shudder to think of how many vulnerabilities there will be.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by armanox ( 826486 )

      I think "Remote Desktop" is common knowledge among Slashdot's readership. And they've done articles on Continuum in the past. It's a tech news aggregator, not a newspaper for the general public. Technical terms are allowed.

      • Re:What is it? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by MightyYar ( 622222 ) on Tuesday December 15, 2015 @03:05PM (#51123865)

        I use Windows every day, and very frequently use Remote Desktop - both to work from home and to work from the lab. I have no idea what Continuum is, and so I looked it up. It seems like it's just a fancy way of saying that your device can look like either a tablet or a desktop without changing the OS - but that is not exactly worthy of geek-slobber. Is this news item really "You can now remote desktop from your tablet!"? I'm... underwhelmed. Teamviewer, Chrome, etc. have been able to do this for a long time and they are free. They also work without abandoning Windows 7.

        • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Continuum is a feature of Windows 10 Mobile (renamed mobile OS no longer following in line from Windows Phone 8.1). It allows your phone to be hooked up to monitors/TVs and controlled like a desktop, which includes hooking up (directly or via Bluetooth) a keyboard and mouse.

          Windows 10 running on tablets already inherently support this kind of thing by switching out of tablet mode (or even semi-confusingly while in tablet mode), but it's a very different thing to allow apps from your phone to be scaled up to

          • Ah, so it's a Windows Phone thing. No wonder no one knows what it is.

            I'll hold on to my geek card for now.

        • I think the headline should read "Microsoft reinvents wheel!"
    • Ok if you're so clever what colour do you think we should paint it?

  • Like 20 years late to the game, but nice going, getting that simplest of features implemented.

    Let's hope it's not a buggy 1.0 release.

  • So, having dismally crashed and burned in the phone marketplace, Microsoft now allows you to get to a Windows box *from* a phone?

    • So, having dismally crashed and burned in the phone marketplace, Microsoft now allows you to get to a Windows box *from* a phone?

      I don't understand this.

      In Windows XP or Windows millennial, I could always get to my Windows box from my Android phone/tablet.

      Did Windows 10 block this somehow?

      • Re:Windows Phone - Windows From Phone (Score:5, Informative)

        by pushing-robot ( 1037830 ) on Tuesday December 15, 2015 @02:52PM (#51123717)

        How I understand it:

        Windows 10 has a 'Desktop Mode' and a 'Tablet Mode'; in the latter the UI is more tuned for touches, gestures, and small displays.
        App developers can likewise create separate desktop and tablet UIs.
        On a desktop, Windows and apps will use their desktop UI, on a tablet, Windows and supporting apps use their tablet UI. On a convertible device like the Surface Book they can even change as the screen is docked and undocked.

        This is Continuum.

        Continuum didn't extend to RDP, though, so when you used a tablet to connect to your desktop, Windows would still render the desktop UI. This change will allow your desktop to switch to the tablet UI when you connect via a tablet or other touch device. Of course, it's still up to app developers to support it.

        • Re:Windows Phone - Windows From Phone (Score:5, Interesting)

          by pushing-robot ( 1037830 ) on Tuesday December 15, 2015 @03:27PM (#51124107)

          After reading more I don't think my initial interpretation was correct.

          "Continuum" is the Windows 10 feature that switches UI based on device.
          "Continuum for Phone" is a different feature that lets you connect a Windows 10 phones to a screen+keyboard+mouse and work in a desktop-like interface.

          Unfortunately, many people say "Continuum" when they mean "Continuum for Phone" so it's a mess trying to decipher what's really going on:

          1) The summary and some reports describe Continuum coming to to Remote Desktop, which would mean your UI will switch based on what device you're using.
          2) Other reports talk about Remote Desktop coming to Continuum, which could mean MS is updating their phones' RDP app to run under the desktop-like "Continuum for Phone" interface.

          The original release from Microsoft specifies "Continuum for Phone", so at this point I'm putting my money on the second interpretation. Sorry for adding to the confusion.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by labnet ( 457441 )

            So if a /. Geek can barely understand it; what hope has a mere mortal.
            Microsoft has so screwed their whole whole unification Of desktop/tablet. At least Apple has had the sense of keeping iOS and desktop seperate do and are working slowly toward their unification (it may still never happen).

          • Unfortunately, many people say "Continuum" when they mean "Continuum for Phone"

            No unfortunately Microsoft's marketing department is still brain dead and they are repeating the mistakes of reusing a name for multiple things that do different things (Windows RT anyone?)

        • Continuum is the ability for you to plug a Windows Phone into a screen, keyboard, and mouse, and have a near-desktop experience. It relies on apps coded for the Universal Windows Platform, which is designed to let apps scale between phone, tablet, and desktop modes with a single binary. This announcement is that Microsoft has made an RDP client under UWP, so people will now be able to remote into work from their Continuum desktops.

  • I'm sticking with Teamviewer (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    This brings nothing to the table that Teamviewer doesn't already offer - unless they start offering support for the Raspberry Pi.

  • I have RDP on my windows phone 8.. what is different about this "Remote Desktop Universal"? Even TFA doesn't explain.

    • Re:What is "Remote Desktop Universal" (Score:5, Interesting)

      by pr0t0 ( 216378 ) on Tuesday December 15, 2015 @02:27PM (#51123473)

      I just read a forum talking about, and people are acting like they've never heard of RDP (or LogMeIn, or VNC or Hamachi from a decade ago). One guy stated something like, "imagine a photographer being able to edit the photos he just took by logging into his home PC and using Photoshop from his hotel room". I don't have to imagine that. I've done that...years upon years ago. I don't get it. I have a Microsoft-built RDP app on my Android phone. I have Chrome Remote Desktop too.

      • I don't know what is different exactly.

        However, I would assume that the new key features will leverage the Azure cloud. Like perhaps allowing you to remote to your computer no matter what network you are on in a "LogMeIn" type fashion without having to open up ports in your home router.

    • Re:What is "Remote Desktop Universal" (Score:5, Informative)

      by Bugler412 ( 2610815 ) on Tuesday December 15, 2015 @02:36PM (#51123551)
      Remote desktop on the phone screen itself is a done deal. Continuum, the new feature in WIndows 10 Mobile that lets you attach the phone to a "real" screen and use it like a Windows 10 PC (for universal apps only), an updated or new universal app is needed that will run on the big screen when in Continuum. Existing WinPhone 8.1 apps can't do that and need to be updated to support use in Continuum on the big screen. I have one of the new Lumia's with the Continuum dock, it's a pretty slick feature, but mostly a demo right now since very few universal apps, especially from 3rd parties, have been updated to support use in Continuum and therefore can run only on the small phone screen.
      • Thank you for the explanation- not something to trumpet though I would say that Continuum is DOA without it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Holi ( 250190 )
      If you RDP into Windows 10 you get the Desktop UI. This would allow you to get the Tablet UI if your device is of the touchscreen variety.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by zlives ( 2009072 )

        LOL
        ummm why the fuck would you do that, your touch friendly tablet UI enabled device already has the tablet UI

        • LOL
          ummm why the fuck would you do that, your touch friendly tablet UI enabled device already has the tablet UI

          Because you want to use your DESKTOP from the tablet. Maybe you need a file that's on a physical drive attached to the Desktop. The tablet UI better matches the input device of that tablet and will make interacting with the file easier.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by zlives ( 2009072 )

            RDP already allows you to do this, the "app" is for appers that app using the touch app interface.

  • Great. One more thing to turn off. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Or one more reason not to upgrade.

  • I can see a glimpse Microsoft's vision (Score:5, Insightful)

    by The-Ixian ( 168184 ) on Tuesday December 15, 2015 @03:00PM (#51123811)

    And I really like it.

    I think it would be absolutely fantastic to unify all of the operating systems into one. The UI being the only thing to change between different sized screens.

    A full computer in my pocket that I can use as is, or use it with 4 large monitors, keyboard and mouse, or anything in between. One computer to do everything.

    I think this is what Microsoft is ultimately driving toward and I think it is pretty awesome if they can pull it off.

    • Poe's law applies fully to this comment.

    • Honestly the thing that would make continuum really worth while would be if Microsoft got rid of the phone OS entirely and ported the telephony stack to the full Windows 10 OS and just install full Windows 10 on everything, including phones. Then when you enter desktop mode when you dock for phone you will be able to run Win32 apps in addition to the universal apps. With that, you will truly have a real, full computer in your pocket.

      Of course this does mean that Microsoft would have to limit their phone O

      • Yes, from what I have heard, it sounds like MS will be doing a Surface Phone at some point in the near future.

        I think this implies the x86 CPU in a small device.

    • MS can't get sleep mode working on their own surface book, much less windows updates. The thought of full stack windows, services, and malware on a phone is hardly compelling. Digital convergence is nice if it works. I'd rather MS got their legacy shit working properly, and then built continuum. for now it is MS worrying about mobile and making their core OS worse, and increasingly locked into MS services. Luckily we get to watch them make the desktop worse in order to make the continuum feature available

    • I suspect "universal" does not include OSX, Linux, iPhone, BSD, Android, etc.

  • 'Travel from your desktop to any NoMachine-enabled computer at the speed of light. NoMachine [nomachine.com] is the fastest remote desktop you have ever tried. In just a few clicks you can reach any computer in the world and start working on it as if it was right in front of you.'

    • Yea, because we want laggy desktop sessions ... NoMachine is for linux fanboys who can't be bothered to use a real remote desktop client, if you think VNC is good, you're sorely out of touch. VNC is shitty, whats worse is the idiots who do X over VNC instead of using the X protocol ... I think you know them as ... NoMachine? Yea, thats right. All they did was take two systems capable of network display ... and replacing it with a shitty protocol.

  • I'm going to guess that it's:

    Universal Remote Desktop Coming To Windows 10 Soon

    ... via your (currently) Windows 7 computer. Like it or not.

  • OK, so is this basically saying that if I have a Lumia 950 and the dock, I will soon be able to turn any screen that takes HDMI into my home computer, even when away from home? I mean, my experience with remove desktop in the past was quite laggy, but if this is correct, then I'm sold on a 950!
  • I am a Microsoft shop. I use Windows 10 on everything, I have the Surface Pro, I have the Windows Phone. Every day I RDP into my primary machine from work (while at work), from my phone (while bored at random places), and from the Surface (while at lunch). WTF is Continuum and WTF can I not already do that I am already doing?
  • I'm almost sure that editors of ./ have been replaced with a more effective, high-throughput fashion system [wikipedia.org] which is able to handle large submission traffic with extreme efficiency.

    Oh, and it scales very well too!

  • At least as of win 8.1 there was a slightly less than 4k limit to RDP something like 3800X2000 is that still the case? I have a couple of 4k screens. Would be good if "extend to all monitors" would work past a fraction of one monitory ;)

  • When I was student (around 1992), I have worked remotely using vi and a text terminal (minitel) using 1200 bauds modem. I have also used export DISPLAY between locations separated by 500 km. It was far more usable than nowadays with ADSL. I think Microsoft has worked a lot to avoid that this kind of features arrives on Windows. I hope this will become mainstream quickly. But, damn! 25 years!

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