Windows Virtual Desktops on Microsoft Azure

With Microsoft’s recent announcements, you can now create Windows virtual desktops in Azure.

A few weeks ago, I was searching virtual desktop solutions for a my company in order to allow Mac users to be able to access some native Windows apps. In the past, I’ve accomplished this multiple ways such as running Parallels for Mac, VirtualBox, and Citrix. While all of these solutions work well depending on the circumstances, they didn’t fit neatly into what I had in mind…a pay-as-you-go, on-demand cloud based Windows desktop. Enter Windows Virtual Desktop on Azure.

This is a perfect solution for a business such as the one I work for, a private equity firm managing multiple consumer products companies. As such, the IT environment needs to be agile, scalable (from both computing power and cost), easily managed, and on-demand. Using the Azure solution, I was able to rapidly build, deploy, and mange Windows desktops and native apps for my Mac users.

If you’re looking for a virtual Windows Desktop solution, I recommend checking out Azure’s capabilities. One more thing…with Azure’s virtual Windows Desktop solution, I can now access a Windows desktop on my iPad…an awesome solution for a guy who spends a lot of time on the road and doesn’t always want to carry a laptop!