Windows 10 MS. What It Is In A Nutshell

What Windows 10 Multi-Session Is in a Nutshell 

windows 10 msWindows 10 MS refers to one of the major features of the recently introduced Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), Microsoft’s virtual desktop offering delivered via Azure. As the tagline implies, it enables multiple users to remote into a single Windows 10 instance at the same time. 

Basically, when you create a Windows 10 MS virtual desktop, one of the operating system disk images you can choose from the Azure gallery is “Windows 10 Enterprise Multi-Session.” So Windows 10 MS is really one of the image options for WVD. 

Benefits to end users 

Although session-based virtualization is nothing new in Windows, the way it’s currently being delivered (i.e. through Windows Server) presents a few but easily noticeable limitations, especially from an end-user perspective. Currently, users have very limited—or sometimes even zero—access to certain applications/services, like the Microsoft Store, Cortana, and Edge. With WVD’s Windows 10 MS, users can have full access to those services and even Office 365 ProPlus.  

In addition, because Windows 10 is really a client operating system (unlike Windows Server, which is designed for server use), this virtual desktop solution has better client-based application compatibility. That means it can enable you to virtualize and deploy other commonly used software applications more easily, like Google Chrome, Adobe products, and many others.  

Benefits to businesses 

While those benefits are more beneficial to end users, this new Windows 10 MS capability is also good news for CFOs, corporate finance managers, CIOs, and IT managers. When a single virtual machine can support multiple sessions/users concurrently (as opposed to the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) approach where each virtual machine serves a single user), it results in a more efficient utilization of computing resources (e.g. vCPUs and RAM). In turn, that translates to lower virtualization costs.  

Lastly, because Windows 10 MS is part of WVD, it’s delivered through the cloud (specifically Azure). In other words, not only is it highly scalable, it can also be accessed through almost any device—even those that don’t have the computing resources to run it locally.  

Parallels RAS Zero-Day Support for Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop  

Version 16.5 update 3 (v16.5.3) of Parallels® Remote Application Server (RAS) will be released in Q1-19. It will provide zero-day support for WVD functionalities. Here’s a summary of the new capabilities:  

Need more info about Parallels RAS integration with Microsoft WVD? Contact us! 

References: 

Microsoft | Windows Virtual Desktop preview 

Microsoft Ignite presentation | New multi-session virtualization capabilities in Windows 

Microsoft Ignite presentation | Windows Virtual Desktop overview 

Microsoft Ignite presentation | A tour of Windows Virtual Desktop 

BrianMadden | Windows Server 2019: Session Host is dead! Multi-user Win10 instead?