Kurt Shintaku's Blog

During Microsoft Ignite 2018, we announced the coming preview of “Windows Virtual Desktop”.

This is an new end-to-end cloud-based desktop solution that is orchestrated through Microsoft Azure.

Windows Virtual Desktop creates scalable Windows 10 or Windows 7 desktop experiences in the cloud.

• Administrators set up the desktop space from Azure Marketplace “Windows Virtual Desktop” (Not available yet – until public preview)

Creating a Windows Virtual Desktop deployment from the Azure Portal

• Delivers a “full desktop experience” or “collections of apps” or “one specific app”
  • WVD app delivery can be initiated on local desktops & “appear” to be local apps in the Start menu
  • Supports copy & paste to the app from the local desktop, as well as save/open local files & local printers
• Supports “VDI VM-based desktops” or ‘session-based desktops” – all in one
• Session-based i.e. Remote Desktop experience is WINDOWS 10 – not Windows Server. [Exclusive to WVD]
• Supports persistent or non-persistent desktops
• Supports custom VM images or gallery-based templates
• Support Office 365 applications in a multi-user environment (i.e. all the stuff that is hard or impossible to implement or manage)
• Outlook
• OneDrive
• Supports every VM type in the Azure Gallery available in the region selected

Windows Virtual Desktops can be implemented on an VM type/SKU available in the selected region

• Supports optimizing for performance or for cost efficacy:
• breadth mode for performance (spread new VMs/sessions across all hosts)
• depth mode to optimize for costs (use one host to capacity before using another)
• Support Azure Active Directory
• Automated domain join
• Multifactor authentication
• Conditional Access

Multifactor Authentication is supported in tandem with Conditional Access for Windows Virtual Desktops

• Licensing: (any of the following)
• M365 E3/E5
• M365 Business/F1
• Windows E3/E5

I’ve aggregated everything I’ve got around Windows Virtual Desktop into a single location – PowerPoints, documents, and references at the following share:

• INFO: Windows Virtual Desktop Resource Collection (PPTX, .DOC, Videos)
  https://aka.ms/wvdresources