Microsoft 'Windows App' Offers Access to Windows PCs From Any Device

Thursday November 16, 2023 5:01 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Microsoft is launching a "Windows App" that can remotely connect to a Windows PC and provide access to it from any platform. Available for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, PCs, and web browsers, the app also provides a gateway to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft Dev Box, and the company's Remote Desktop Services.

windows app overview
The Windows app includes a customizable Home Screen from which users can access multiple different cloud services and remote PCs. The app features multiple monitor support, custom display resolutions, dynamic display resolutions and scaling, peripheral redirection, and more.

Microsoft has offered the Remote Desktop Connection app in Windows for years now, but the Windows app signals a broader shift to cloud computing for Windows more generally.

For now the app is only available as a preview for enterprise accounts, but it is likely to support regular customers in time, although the option to sign in using a personal Microsoft account doesn't currently work, according to The Verge. The Mac version requires macOS 12 or later, while the iOS/iPadOS app needs a device running iOS or iPadOS 16 or later. The web version of the app can be accessed by going to windows.cloud.microsoft.

Tag: Windows 365

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Top Rated Comments

jcshas

38 months ago

Isn’t this essentially the same as Microsoft Remote Desktop, or what am I missing here?

Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)

bradman83

38 months ago

Isn’t this essentially the same as Microsoft Remote Desktop, or what am I missing here?

It builds on remote desktop by adding support for Windows 365 and Azure desktops, so you can access cloud-based Windows VMs in addition to remote access to physical PCs.

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Lord Hamsa

38 months ago

So no more Parallels?

No, this doesn't replace all of the use cases for a virtual machine. This would require some physical machine running Windows to be accessible to you, either locally or via the cloud. It's more like Remote Desktop than Parallels, with the difference being the cloud components built into it.

Parallels would still be useful for when you need to run Windows directly on the same machine.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

infinitedreams

38 months ago

Now I can run Windows on my iPhone!

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

chucker23n1

38 months ago

Isn’t this essentially the same as Microsoft Remote Desktop, or what am I missing here?

Yes. This is basically a rebrand of their previous RDP client. Some of the previous UI is also still there:

They do seem to have improved a few things. Resizing the window to set the resolution now sort of works, although I find text to be blurry on on-Retina Displays.

Copying files finally seems to be implemented.

I still prefer Royal, but my use cases are more advanced…