Microsoft is Replacing Remote Desktop With Its New Windows App (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0176676881
- News link: https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/03/11/2037221/microsoft-is-replacing-remote-desktop-with-its-new-windows-app
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/news/627483/microsoft-remote-desktop-windows-app-replacement
> If you use the Remote Desktop app to connect to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, or Microsoft Dev Box machines then you'll have to transition to the Windows app instead.
>
> The new Windows app, which launched in September, includes multimonitor support, dynamic display resolutions, and easy access to cloud PCs and virtual desktops. Microsoft says "connections to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Microsoft Dev Box via the Remote Desktop app from the Microsoft Store will be blocked after May 27th, 2025."
[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/627483/microsoft-remote-desktop-windows-app-replacement
Terrible summary and article, here's the real jist (Score:5, Informative)
First, lets get this out of the way:
> This blog applies only to the Windows App replacement of the Remote Desktop app downloaded from the Microsoft Store.
They aren't replacing Remote Desktop with a new windows app. They are replacing the old windows app you probably didn't even know existed with a new windows app, you also probably didn't know about.
[1] Some blog post about it, I guess. [microsoft.com]
[1] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/windows-app-to-replace-remote-desktop-app-for-windows/4390893
Mod Parent Up (Score:5, Informative)
This guy gets it.
The day they mess with mstsc.exe, they're gonna have an uprising. This is not that day.
Re: (Score:3)
> They are replacing the old windows app you probably didn't even know existed
If you're not an admin then you know it existed. The windows app has been the default tool for use in Windows for a while now and actively the only tool functionally supporting automatic distribution of Azure / Windows Cloud / Microsoft 365 / Whateverthefuckthey'llcallittomorrow instances.
> They aren't replacing Remote Desktop with a new windows app.
And for everyone left who wasn't forced into it, they will have been confused into it given Windows 11 calls the old one "Remote Desktop Connection" and simply typing "Remote Desktop" will default you to the Windows app.
Re: Terrible summary and article, here's the real (Score:2)
This is the way.
I'm not sure... (Score:2)
I'm not sure what makes me more upset:
- Calling it "Remote Desktop App"
- Calling it "Windows 365"
- Saying it supports multimonitor and dynamic resolution changes...This is required behavior including keyboard and mouse input.
- Remote Desktop App "will be blocked ... the Microsoft Store" ...wtf do I need to go to the online store for a basic function?
- Lack of words like 'system', 'endpoint', real actual product names like Windows Server 20XX, and 'boxen'
- The
Re: (Score:3)
Note: I'm not saying whether any of this tech is good nor bad, just explaining what it is.
#1, the default RDP client still comes with windows, doesn't come from the microsoft store, and isn't discontinued/blocked.
The "special RDP thing" did more than RDP, which is why it's needed.
Azure virtual desktop, windows 365 (ick naming), and microsoft dev box are all azure technologies that give you a "virtual desktop experience" with automated management of backend azure VMs, session allocation, image selection, per
Re: (Score:2)
I haven't laughed at a your mom joke in a while, this one was just silly enough!
HTTPS is a good idea (Score:2)
the new app is all over HTTPS, so there's no fancy firewall magic or open ports you have to do to play along at home. I think it's a smart move. And I guess it has multi-monitor support or something too.The existing RDP client will still work locally on your network, for RDP things. You just can't use it to hit Azure etc. (According to a "How to Geek" article on this exact subject.)
Chrome (Score:1)
Good way to get more people to use Google's Chrome Remote Desktop
Re: (Score:1)
> Good way to get more people to use Google's Chrome Remote Desktop
I was thinking more of VNC. The bare bones VNC is good but isn't great. There's people that added various extensions to VNC to allow for secure connections, compression to compensate some for slow and/or lagging connections, add sound, add USB redirection, perhaps more I'm missing.
If I'm understanding what is being announced they aren't ditching RDP, the underlying protocol for Remote Desktop, but rather the app for connecting a client to a host. Windows App doesn't currently include support for RDP, if
Typical crap Microsoft naming / branding (Score:2)
I administer Linux machines, and my workstation is a Mac. But I also have to deal with (mostly Linux) VMs running on Hyper-V. Previously this would involve the Microsoft Remote Desktop app - a name that at least made some sense. I could quick launch and start typing "remote..." and I'd get there.
But now? I have to open Windows App to do this - on my Mac, to work with Linux VMs. The naming makes just about ZERO sense, and I don't use it enough to where I've at least developed some muscle memory for the stupi
Re: (Score:2)
Out of 50 VMs, I have only 3 with GUI so ssh is fine for most of them and I use VNC on those with GUI. VNC works on windows as well. You could also use ssh with X redirection to run the graphical apps you need to run without having a full GUI installed on the vms.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh yeah, I don't typically install a GUI on a server for instance. But if I'm administering the VM itself, that's easiest (IMHO) through the Hyper-V Manager.
I imagine I could do it all through PowerShell too, but I've procrastinated on learning that.
Re: (Score:1)
> Microsoft has a pretty long and consistent track record of rebranding their products in dumber and dumber ways over time (anyone else remember MSDNAA?). You'd think, with all their money, they could afford to buy a clue.
I remember MCDA. Microsoft says MCDA stands for "Microsoft Certified Database Administrator". For those that have filled out a Form 4473 before it means "misdemeanor crime domestic abuse". For those in the medical field it means "multiple cogenital and developmental anomalies". I giggle a bit inside whenever I see "MCDA" given the multiple meanings, as if someone at Microsoft knew others could make the same connections to that initialism.
Re: (Score:2)
I've never used a Mac but I do know that you can create a desktop shortcut in Windows, or a launcher in Linux, so it seams reasonable that you could do something similar on a Mac. If so, why don't you do that for the program you need and avoid all of that typing every tie you need it? HTH, HAND.
Re: (Score:2)
Typically I find it much faster to just hit command+space and type the first few letters of the application I want (then hit "return"), than it is to locate a particular icon, move my cursor to it and then click on it.
Linux Mint has a nice quicksearch tool that does the same thing, FWIW.
It's called "Windows App"? Really? (Score:2)
I'm thinking, "Oh, there's a new Windows app to replace RDP, what is is called?" It's called "Windows App"? Okay, that won't confuse people, right?
Give me a minute or two and I could could up with a dozen better names than "Windows App".
Windows Online
Remote Windows, or Remote Windows Connect
Windows Cloud
Internet Explorer (because they can just roll the feature into their web browser)
Windows Client, or Windows Client App
How they got this beyond beta testing with that name just baffles me. Did nobody menti
Re: (Score:2)
> It's called "Windows App"? Okay, that won't confuse people, right?
It shouldn't. This isn't a tool for remote desktops. It's a tool for provisioning Windows cloud instances from Azure / Microsoft 365.
> This is "software as a service", or rather "rent seeking".
Rent seeking is asking for money for a fixed product. This isn't a product, it's a service to provision Windows instances as needed in the cloud, entirely voluntary for you to ignore. Don't want to rent software, don't. This product isn't for you. It's for me, or rather my employer who sees the value in provisioning me a cloud instance for the brief periods when I actually nee
Re: (Score:2)
> It shouldn't. This isn't a tool for remote desktops.
It is a tool for remote desktops. The iOS app, formerly known as Microsoft Remote Desktop updated itself to "Windows". When I go to the macOS App Store and search for "Microsoft Remote Desktop" the first result is "Windows App".
Now, if you and I are talking about two entirely different things, then that proves GP's point that this move creates confusion. If you and I are talking about the *same* thing, then you're not understanding that it has everything to do with being a tool for remote desktops also p
Re: (Score:1)
> It is a tool for remote desktops. The iOS app, formerly known as Microsoft Remote Desktop updated itself to "Windows". When I go to the macOS App Store and search for "Microsoft Remote Desktop" the first result is "Windows App".
When I go to Wikipedia and search for "Windows App" guess where that takes me? Here, try it: [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/w/ind... [wikipedia.org]
It goes to "Microsoft Store", likely because that is where people would go to get most any app for Windows.
I checked a couple web search engines and searching for "Windows App" does have Microsoft's RDP replacement high on the search results. That tells me they must have spent good money on search engine optimizations, so they got that part at least half right.
> It's fucked, bottom line.
I'm literally shakin
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Windows_app
Re: It's called "Windows App"? Really? (Score:2)
This is just a stopgap measure ... they want you to be on registered hardware as much as possible. The app is intentionally vague. It's pure branding. Just get the app and get whatever Microsoft has to offer.. ball and chain included.
Re: (Score:1)
So, they want to turn their Windows operating system into an app that is run on other operating systems? That looks like the goal.
Will Microsoft sell computing hardware like Apple does? I almost forgot that Microsoft sells a tablet computer. Their gaming consoles appear to be at least moderately successful. Does Windows App run on any XBox? If they are going to turn Windows into an internet connected app then at some point they'd have to produce some kind of desktop system for their business market. R
This reminds me (Score:1)
Been meaning to wipe Windows on this laptop. Thanks for the reminder, M$!
Re: (Score:1)
Nah. I hate it with a passion. It's completely demotivating writing code on this POS. Even with WSL it's crap. When I worked at the evil empire they forced me to support it, despite nobody using it themselves for the project. Holdout has been some games I play with my kids. They haven't been playing them in a while, so I'm clear to wipe their monstrosity. Their monitoring bullshit and plans to move it fully to the cloud will ensure it stays off this box.