Well, then you should know that the tech company is rebranding the well-known Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) service as Azure Virtual Desktop. And that’s not all, as the company is also introducing a new ISV/per-user pricing option and presenting some new features that will become available soon.
WVD now becomes Azure Virtual Desktop
If you weren’t already aware, WVD, which is an Azure-based service, allows users to basically virtualize their Windows desktop, Office apps, as well as other third-party applications, by running them remotely in Azure virtual machines. However, today, Microsoft unveiled the new, now-AVD-branded capabilities, as a part of the plan to establish broader outlines for the product. Kam VedBrat, the General Manager of AVD, explained where this initiative originally started, and why it is so important for the company to act swiftly and responsibly.
Microsoft introduces new pricing plans for AVD services
As expected by many, Microsoft is also announcing a new pricing option for application streaming. The tech company will enable customers and ISVs to use AVD to stream desktops and applications to users outside their own organizations. Another benefit of this will be that both the IT departments and ISVs will use Azure Virtual Desktop as the default structure for delivering apps as a service, much to the thrill of many ISVs. Microsoft is also talking about a promotion period, which will last from July 14 to December 31, 2021. In this time frame, customers and ISVs can get this monthly-per-user option for no additional charge. Even so, they still do need to continue to pay for the Azure services upon which AVD relies. With all this being said, keep in mind that, starting January 1, 2022, this option will be charged $5.50 per month for apps, and $10 for apps plus desktop, per user. This fee is for user-access rights only, meaning customers will need to continue to pay for the Azure compute, storage and other services that power their apps.
New features being prepared
Rebranding this product wasn’t Microsoft’s only concern, as we can all imagine. As with any fresh start, there have to be some improvements or new features added. One of these new features is going to be Enhanced Azure Active Directory support, which will allow customers to join their AVD virtual machines directly to Azure Active Directory. They can also connect to the virtual machine from any device, using their credentials, and without the need for a separate domain controller. Microsoft added that it’s planning to add support for single sign-on and additional credential types like FIDO2 and Azure Files, in the near future. Another important feature that is about to make its debut is the Support for managing Windows 10 Enterprise multisession VMs with Microsoft Endpoint Manager. Let’s not forget about the Quickstart deployment support, which is coming soon in public preview. This will allow customers to set up and start an AVD session in minutes from the Azure Portal. All the information you need is available in the official post by Microsoft Azure. Are you excited about this new merger and excited to try out the results? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.
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