Microsoft on a roll for terrible rebranding with Windows App
- Reference: 1726842944
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/09/20/microsoft_windows_app/
- Source link:
Users might know the product better as the Remote Desktop client, but rebranding a product with a tag that makes sense would never do, so we have the Windows App. A one-stop shop for everything Windows.
The Windows App has been in preview for a while and users of the Remote Desktop client were given a heads-up that the rebrand was coming. It is designed to be a "unified experience," [1]according to Microsoft . It'll run on Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and web browsers, although the Android version remains in public preview for now.
[2]
Windows App (pic: Microsoft) – click to enlarge
"This unified app serves as your secure gateway to connect to Windows across Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, Remote Desktop, Remote Desktop Services, Microsoft Dev Box, and more," Microsoft wrote.
There is device redirection, multi-monitor support, as well as dynamic display resolutions and scaling. Pretty much everything a user might have done with a Remote Desktop client. Microsoft said: "Users of Remote Desktop clients for Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and web will transition to Windows App."
[3]Disney kicks Slack to the curb, looks to Microsoft Teams for a happily ever after
[4]Dutch watchdog wants more powers after EU drops Microsoft Inflection probe
[5]Microsoft unveils Office LTSC 2024 for users that remain stubbornly offline
[6]Microsoft, BlackRock form fund to sink up to $100B into AI infrastructure
We took the Windows App for a spin and it works well with Microsoft's services. It did not, however, replace the existing Remote Desktop Connection application that continues to ship with Windows 11, which will please administrators that may worry about having to train for yet another way of working.
The Windows App also requires a work or school account before it will start up, confirming that this is not aimed at consumers.
[7]
Microsoft has peppered its product lineup with the word "Copilot" lately. Replacing Bing Chat Enterprise with the Copilot moniker has caused some users to point at Microsoft 365 Copilot and wonder what the difference is. The former is grounded in the public Bing web index, while the latter draws from an enterprise customer's data in its responses.
[8]
"Windows App" is likely also to cause some confusion as users become accustomed to it.
One [9]commented : "This is the dumbest rebranding ever and has been extremely poorly communicated. They might as well have called it 'Useful Program' for all that 'Windows App' tells you about what it does." ®
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[1] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/windows-app-now-available-on-all-major-platforms/ba-p/4246939
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/09/20/windows_app.jpg
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/20/disney_slack_microsoft_teams/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/19/netherlands_acm_microsoft_inflection/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/18/microsoft_office_ltsc_2024/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/18/microsoft_and_blackrock_form_fund/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zu2cIyonb2P5fVKwFPfZgAAAAdY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zu2cIyonb2P5fVKwFPfZgAAAAdY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/windows-app-now-available-on-all-major-platforms/bc-p/4250577/highlight/true#M7897
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I mean, at least they finally settled on a consistent UI design vocabulary.
Oh, wait...
The macOS Windows App, stooppid!
It is designed to be a "unified experience,"
The only "experience" I want from any OS is one that is so noticeable by it's absence that it doesn't actually qualify as an experience at all.
That's all. No fuss. No whistles. No monkeying around.
Please.
Re: It is designed to be a "unified experience,"
No monkeying around. But it's all moneymaking around!
Further evidence as to what the answer is to "Do they ever stop to think?"
Remote Desktop
The one thing that should definitely be disabled by default. Those who know what they're doing doing can enable it if needed.
Linux Mint grows ever more attractive.
The wife and I have both transitioned, to use a phrase, she is completely happy with the move, which surprises me somewhat, and her PC no longer loses WiFi connection and the printer works every time. A win-win, er, well, lin-lin, all round. And she no longer has to fret about anti-virus or the advent of Windows 11.
One more Reason
To run shrieking into the night.
Will searching for "rdp" still find it?
Or will it be completely and utterly impossible to find by virtue of being buried at random and named the most vague way possible?
Gateway
I'm afraid it's named that way because it's how Microsoft wants/would like/hope their operating system to be consumed next... Remotely, virtualized, cloudified, call that as you wish as long as the user pays a fat monthly subscription for it...
From that perspective, it might even be an apt name.
I can see the conversations:
"Have you got the Windows App?"
"Er, which one?"
"The Windows App, of course"
"....The Windows App for what?"
etc, etc...