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Microsoft Launches a Windows App For iPhones, Macs, and Android Devices (theverge.com) 19

Posted by BeauHD from the streaming-operating-systems dept.
Microsoft has launched a new Windows app that serves as a hub for streaming Windows environments from services like Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop. However, it's limited to Microsoft work and school accounts with "no signs that Microsoft plans to support consumer accounts," notes The Verge's Tom Warren. From the report: This new unified app has been in testing for nearly a year, and includes a customizable home screen, multi-monitor support, and USB redirection so you can use local devices like webcams, storage devices, and printers as if they were plugged directly into a cloud PC. This Windows app is limited to Microsoft work and school accounts, as it's primarily designed for existing users of Remote Desktop clients for Windows and other operating systems to move to. Microsoft has had similar apps for connecting to PCs remotely in Windows for decades, including the Remote Desktop Connection app that still ships as part of Windows 11. These apps, including the new Windows one, are useful for connecting to work PCs from a personal laptop or PC. The Windows app is available from the Microsoft Store and Apple App Store. An Android version enters public preview mode today.
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Microsoft Launches a Windows App For iPhones, Macs, and Android Devices More

Microsoft Launches a Windows App For iPhones, Macs, and Android Devices

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  • Just vnc with extra steps then?

    • Different use cases. VNC tends to be used for remote control or shared control. RDP has individual sessions.

      If you dig even deeper, RDP has things like RemoteFX for terminal servers that allow things like video acceleration, etc. Was quite handy on the Citrix environments I managed in the past.

      I'd almost say SPICE is closer to Terminal Services RDP than VNC is on account of the acceleration.

      I've also found that VNC tends to get more janky the higher the latency gets. YMMV.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      So long as you ignore that VNC is just an implementation of the framebuffer protocol whereas RDP does its drawing with cacheable GDI commands and supports multiple authentication methods, multiple users, multiple streams for things like printing and remote drives and shares, including encrypted ones for secure enclave, etc.. So, yeah, like totally the same thing.
  • Appears the app is just for cloud based connections rather than being able to do both cloud and private. Very few configuration options too.

    • Appears the app is just for cloud based connections rather than being able to do both cloud and private. Very few configuration options too.

      Microsoft couldn’t even offer up their own 25-year old protocol properly, in their own environment?

      Forget “cloud” for a minute. I’d like Microsoft to define “functionally acceptable” for me instead.

  • Bing (Score:2)

    by dohzer ( 867770 )

    If the Windows app force-adds a "Bing search" option to my phone's long-press menu system like their other apps do, then I'm not installing it.

  • I'm surprised no one has commented yet on the name of this new Windows app, which is... wait for it... "Windows App."

    It's like they were trying to out-do themselves for "worst MS naming decision ever." And that's saying something.

    • Twenty years late, does nothing, ineptly named, probably rife with hacks.

      Microsoft.

      Nothing to see here. Move along.

    • Well, you've gotta level the playing field and make sure all the Windows 0day gets chance on Android and Apple as well.
  • This dropped month or so ago for RDP access into VDI's, this has got to be a rename, as last itme I checked you did not have to be on a windows machine to access a VDI.Insanely stupid name, but hey MS, decided out of the blue to rename Azure AD Entra AD as it is not an Azure cloud product while being cloud based, yet is not renaming Azure DevOPs which is also not in the Azure cloud, but cloud based... Did they hire the BMW marketing guy who decided to fix the 3 series coupe by making it a 4 series, then ma

  • Rebrand of Microsoft Remote Desktop (Score:4, Interesting)

    by stereoroid ( 234317 ) on Friday September 20, 2024 @02:35AM (#64801961) Homepage Journal

    I'm trying it on a Mac now, where it's being rolled out as an update / rebrand of Microsoft Remote Desktop. The core RDP functions are unchanged, all that's added there is a Favourite option. We don't use RemoteApps (apps hosted on Terminal Server), but that was there before too. The new functionality appears to be for Azure Virtual Desktops in particular, which we don't use either. So it's a nothingburger for existing Microsoft Remote Desktop users

  • But then I'm retired. If it's business related, I wouldn't want it on my personal phone. There have been court cases, where your personal phone if also used for business can be accessed for lawsuits. That means all your phone info is gone thru.

  • What about those who need to work with sensitive and/or confidential data?
    What about latency-sensitive tasks like games? (Can't run a proper game of Tetris this way)
    What is going to run on those clients?

    All of this makes me convinced that this is just another instance of the latest fad.

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