Azure Virtual Desktop vs. Remote Desktop Services

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Virtual Desktop
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Azure Virtual Desktops are a comprehensive desktop and app virtualization service running in the cloud.N/A
Remote Desktop Services
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Remote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.N/A
Pricing
Azure Virtual DesktopRemote Desktop Services
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure Virtual DesktopRemote Desktop Services
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure Virtual DesktopRemote Desktop Services
Considered Both Products
Azure Virtual Desktop
Chose Azure Virtual Desktop
The above-mentioned are only single-purpose software and no doubt they do the job but, AVD itself is a whole suit of services. easy use of UI makes it a greater choice among others. the best thing about AVD is the ability to let multiple users connect rather than one instance …
Remote Desktop Services

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Azure Virtual DesktopRemote Desktop Services
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
Azure Virtual Desktop
-
Ratings
Remote Desktop Services
8.9
3 Ratings
7% above category average
Screen sharing00 Ratings9.33 Ratings
File transfer00 Ratings9.33 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session00 Ratings8.73 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Remote Active Directory® management00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Session record00 Ratings9.52 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure Virtual DesktopRemote Desktop Services
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

Getscreen.me
Getscreen.me
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies

No answers on this topic

mRemoteNG
mRemoteNG
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access
BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure Virtual DesktopRemote Desktop Services
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(16 ratings)
9.3
(17 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
6.6
(2 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
3.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure Virtual DesktopRemote Desktop Services
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Currently Azure Virtual Desktop enviroments are our first choice for all customers. Especially because most of our customers already have a M365 License which includes Azure Virtual Desktop usage. We deploy it for both RemoteApp and Full desktop solutions. This gives us the flexibility to "lift and shift" a specific workload of more legacy customers towards the cloud and provide them with a secure solution to use their apps in the cloud from anywhere.
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Microsoft
Remote Desktop services are well suited for people looking to connect to Local computers/Servers after connecting to VPN or Local Area Network. It is easy to use and performs superbly without any issues. However, it does not have support for connecting to Non-Windows-based Devices and Applications like Teamviewer beat RDP when it comes to connecting to machines outside one's network.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • Better computing power
  • Configurable System and as per team needs configuration can be added or removed at ease
  • Internet Connectivity within the cloud system is way better than our home / office internet connections
  • No heating issues on personal machines, leaving all the worry on actual data center machines
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Microsoft
  • When you connect with RDS, everything looks and feels (and is) exactly like you're sitting at that desktop. This is great for us and for users.
  • You can sign in with RDS and the desktop will be the same as when you left it (if you choose to set it up that way).
  • Although they take some setup, RemoteApps are a very handy way to let users access a program without requiring them to actually connect to a remote desktop on the server.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • Use the Azure portal, Windows Virtual Desktop PowerShell and REST interfaces to configure the host pools, create app groups, assign users, and publish resources.
  • Publish full desktop or individual remote apps from a single host pool, create individual app groups for different sets of users, or even assign users to multiple app groups to reduce the number of images.
  • As we manage our environment, we use built-in delegated access to assign roles and collect diagnostics to understand various configuration or user errors.
  • We use the new Diagnostics service to troubleshoot errors.
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Microsoft
  • Remote Desktop Services currently does not support multiple monitors on the terminal server. Unlike other applications such as Teamviewer, there's no feature to toggle between multiple screens even if they were connected to the terminal server.
  • Remote Desktop Services should provide an option to scale up or down the screen size after a connection is established. Currently you can only adjust the screen size prior to a connection is established. So you'll have to take a best guess at what display screen resolution will fit best on your screen.
  • Remote Desktop Services should offer some kind of menu to send special key strokes like Ctrl+Alt+Del to the terminal server. Currently the substitute for that particular combination is Ctrl+Alt+End. But I have yet to discover a replacement for other combination keystrokes such as Alt+PrintScrn.
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Usability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
The initial setup for Remote Desktop Services is complex, and licensing is costly. Each user connects to their virtual desktop hosted by a single server or group of servers, so a change or issue with servers quickly impacts every single user at the same time. Aside from that, users appreciate seeing their same personal desktop from any device or geographical location.
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Performance
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
As with any Microsoft Server product, support for Remote Desktop Services requires a paid support package. These are license-based and very costly, on top of the already costly product licensing. Microsoft's licensing is complicated to begin with, so setting up licensing alone essentially requires a licensing expert's counsel. There is community documentation and support available on Microsoft websites, as well as community websites.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
I think that the cloud based [Azure] Windows Virtual Desktop is the future and sets the precedent for how these should be configured in the future. I've used cheap options and other more expensive options, but VD is the best when compared to Citrix or freeware. I would recommend it to anyone over these.
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Microsoft
We selected Remote Desktop Services based upon price alone. Other solutions on the market are significantly more expensive, but if your company can foot the bill you should seriously consider products that have been on the market for longer. The lack of an ability to easily upgrade farm servers has been a challenge for us - although it is still faster than updating an application on 2000+ machines. The lack of a centralized management console in 2008 R2 is also challenging, but you get by with the tools available to you. If you don't have the money to spend on Citrix or VMWare Horizon, Remote Desktop Services is a decent replacement.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • More people can work from home which is a positive contribution to company’s objective of promoting work life balance
  • Reduced building operating costs with more staff working from home
  • At any point in time
  • Significantly reduced loss of data if a
  • user loses or damages a work laptop
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Microsoft
  • Allowed remote users access from home
  • Shared file access for multipolar users from a centralized location
  • Cost to add additional users when maxed out
  • Purchase multiple licenses for programs to run in virtual machines. Or unable to run on a virtual machine
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ScreenShots