Microsoft is Replacing Remote Desktop With Its New Windows App (theverge.com) 45
Microsoft is ending support of its Remote Desktop app for Windows on May 27th. From a report: 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."
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."
This reminds me (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
the fact you continued to use it and didn't feel any other reason than this article to wipe it means you actually like using windows, even just a teensy bit
welcome to the resistance
Re: (Score:1)
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.
Some blog post about it, I guess. [microsoft.com]
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, Informative)
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)
Re: Terrible summary and article, here's the real (Score:2)
Ah, thank you immensely. I almost got a heart attack reading the summary.
Re: (Score:2)
The remote desktop app that comes with Windows isn't anything to write home about either. It "works", but it frequently forgets settings and screws up the scaling if a connection is dropped and reopened on a different DPI monitor. My only experience of the store app was it had a lot slicker UI which solved these issues, but it sometimes suffered weird "shimmering" effects, as if it screwed up the resolution & scaling and was off by one pixel.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks. On a related note I've been looking for a decent app to extend my desktop to a laptop's display, either mirrored or as a second monitor.
Windows supports Miracast but the quality is crap. The compression makes it useless for things like photo editing. It also requires WiFi to set up, even if it works over ethernet afterwards.
I'm not sure... (Score:2)
I'm not sure what makes me more upset: ... the Microsoft Store" ...wtf do I need to go to the online store for a basic function?
- 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
- Lack of words like 'system', 'endpoint', real actual product names like Windows Server 20XX, and 'boxen'
- The
Re:I'm not sure... (Score:4, Informative)
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, permissions setting, etc.
It's an "as a service" model for virtual desktops that are suited for 1 of 3 primary use cases, and the app handles a lot of the bits and pieces around this in a way that a pure RDP client doesn't.
Re: (Score:2)
I haven't laughed at a your mom joke in a while, this one was just silly enough!
Re: (Score:1)
Two things you are really confused about:
- Remote Desktop App "will be blocked ... the Microsoft Store" ...wtf do I need to go to the online store for a basic function?
The Remote Desktop App (Not the RDP client in windows) is already a Microsoft Store exclusive. It is depreciated and will be replaced by this new one, nothing at all to do with the RDP client you probably know. It along with several other windows apps are managed by the Microsoft Store. Why do you hate Linux so much? Sorry mistyped, I meant to say why do you hate the idea of an operating system that has managed package delivery system? The Microsoft Store is not an "
HTTPS is a good idea (Score:4, Informative)
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
Re: (Score:2)
Typical crap Microsoft naming / branding (Score:3)
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 stupid name (since, obviously, most of the time I'm using ssh).
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.
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)
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.
Re: Typical crap Microsoft naming / branding (Score:2)
Right, Spotlight is the way to go. Who wants to be looking icons on a desktop or in menus when Spotlight is so fast and easy? Even on my iPhone, I donâ(TM)t use app icons because Spotlight is easier and faster.
Re: (Score:1)
Because you would need to "switch to the desktop" - aka - hide all windows, to click it?
It is much faster to hit command-space and type the first letters of what you want to launch.
After you have your remote connection up, which 99% of the time will be SSH - you type all the time anyway.
Re: Typical crap Microsoft naming / branding (Score:2)
C'mon dude, let's use some common sense. MS can disable some Windows application, but it can't disable the entire RDP protocol. And it can disrupt the remote desktop operations between your Mac and your Linux servers not more than it can disrupt insecure HTTP traffic on port 80 between these. Unless they can so ehow deliver a Windows Update to your Mac or can control the routers at your desktop or your servers... Oh wait a minute, if hour servers are on Azure, then they already do. Well, the positive side i
It's called "Windows App"? Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
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 mention that this could be a confusing name now that we call most any software an "app"?
Then there's the issue that I don't want my computers constantly connecting to some "mothership" on the internet for basic functions. I will sometimes do work in "air gap" environments and the constant need for some software to "phone home" really pisses me off. Part of what pisses me off is that the software phones home for things like license validation, the other problem is people keep buying this shit. If license validation is so important then why not have a "license dongle" like in the days of daisy chained parallel port devices? Oh, right, that would require shipping something physical to people than just have them download a binary and that would mean having to take on the expense of mailing things to people. As if it would be a huge burden to produce and ship some kind of ROM with a USB interface. How much would that cost a company if produced in volume? $50? More? Likely less. It could include not just the license key but the installer, which would save on bandwidth costs for both the publisher and consumer, and potentially actual useful hardware to enhance the utility of the product. If this is to protect any kind of graphics program then have an improved random number generator for things like blurs and noise, but then a true random number generator could have all kinds of uses for things like security, game play, AI, and likely more.
Perhaps I digress to much with the license protection. Any kind of phoning home without my explicit informed permission pisses me off, even if it's only for checking for updates. I can click a "check for updates" button when I think of it, or not. If it's important to me I can put that on a periodic schedule. If it's not important to me then it is likely because the system is behind an air gap and I have no concern of security updates. If there's a bug in the system that becomes a problem then that gets to me checking for updates on my own.
This is "software as a service", or rather "rent seeking". I don't like paying rent for my software. You should only get paid again when you come out with a new edition that I find valuable. Perhaps I can pay a subscription, or "rent", to have a support hotline. If I'm paying rent for support then it should either be really cheap or really awesome.
Re: (Score:3)
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:It's called "Windows App"? Really? (Score:4, Interesting)
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 proves GP's point that this move creates confusion.
It's fucked, bottom line.
Re: (Score:2)
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: 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
Re: (Score:1)
When I go to Wikipedia and search for "Windows App" guess where that takes me? Here, try it: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/ind [wikipedia.org]... [wikipedia.org]
What's your point? That Wikipedia doesn't have an up to date article about a software change that was made only a few hours ago? *shockedpikachuface*
I checked a couple web search engines and searching for "Windows App" does have Microsoft's RDP replacement high on the search results.
Yes, that's because Microsoft in their infinite wisdom had *TWO* different projects called Remote Desktop. That was the source of the confusion. They had the Remote Desktop App from the store which was used as a way to spin up Azure instances, and they had Remote Desktop Connection as part of windows which was the RDP client.
The fact that the internet is confus
Re: (Score:2)
What's next...Office 365 counts down until your subscription runs out ?
Office 354
Office 363
Re: (Score:1)
What's next...Office 365 counts down until your subscription runs out ? ....
Office 354
Office 363
Yep that looks like the names and order that MS would release it under.... :)
Re: (Score:2)
When I go to the macOS App Store and search for "Microsoft Remote Desktop" the first result is "Windows App".
What is the second result?
Re: (Score:2)
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".
Both of those apps were designed for provisioning cloud instances, the fact they could connect to existing RDP instances was not their primary function. This isn't replacing the actual Remote Desktop Connect client that is part of every admin's toolbox.
Now, if you and I are talking about two entirely different things, then that proves GP's point that this move creates confusion.
My point is that this confusion is no worse now. The reality is in the past there were two different tools in Windows called "Remote Desktop". *THAT* was confusing. Do I run the "Remote Desktop" app (the tool which I use to spin up an Azure Windows VM, now ca
Re: It's called "Windows App"? Really? (Score:2)
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
Re: (Score:2)
This is just the fulfillment of WfH, the thin client network computer updated for generation alpha.
Don't need a physical PC on a desk in an office when MS can host your organisation's desktop PCs in the cloud. On the days you are required in the office, you can hot desk to your cloud PC by plugging into a docking station.
(many businesses switched to supplying their workforce with laptops a while ago, naturally.)
Re: It's called "Windows App"? Really? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I use the Windows app on the Mac to connect to my PC over Remote Desktop - are you saying that the Windows version of this can't handle that?
Correct. They removed the ability to connect to anything but an Azure VM instance (of various kinds). There was talk of them 'working' on 'adding this functionality' as if it was never there in the first place and removed by a dickwad product manager to force people into the Azure ecosystem, but even if they did put it back in you'd still need either a corporate or educational - not personal - MS account to launch it.
The 'Remote Desktop' app in the app store, which is the product 'Windows App for Windows
What is the app called (Score:2)
So it's an app for windows, I get that, but what is it called?
The new Abbott and Costello... (Score:2)