Windows Virtual Desktop

Question

I need to know about Win Virtual Desktop. As a single personal user, can I get this service? Will it be cheaper than Win 10 VM? And if I get an eligible license for Win Virtual Desktop (e.g. MS 365), virtual desktop will be completely free or are there any hidden or other charges?

Answer 1

Hello, @Ramana Lekkala! The short answer is that Azure Virtual Desktop (formerly Windows Virtual Desktop) involves a lot of extra setup compared to a single virtual machine as it's intended for large enterprise solutions, so single virtual machines are usually what is recommended for single users. Still, licensing requirements make the answer less clear. I'll go into more detail below.

How do I set up a personal/single user Windows 10 VM? What about Azure Virtual Desktop?

This is a common point of confusion as this isn't explicitly called out in the product page or documentation, but Azure Virtual Desktop is set up for Enterprise customers and involves a lot more overhead/setup than setting up a VM for a single person.

Calculating cost is a somewhat complicated process but using the Azure Pricing Calculator you can see that there is no compute/VM cost savings by using Azure Virtual Desktop. Here is an example using a D4s v5 VM in East US 2 with 730 hours use (full time) for a month as both AVD and as a standalone VM:

Cost estimate for Azure Virtual Desktop

Cost estimate for a standalone Virtual Machine

So for single users, setting up a VM is going to be the easiest option without any infrastructure savings for going with another option, like Azure Virtual Desktop.

The real point of consideration with a personal/single user Windows 10/11 VM in a cloud environment is going to be licensing. Both Azure Virtual Desktop and an Azure Virtual Machine require that you bring your own license.

For Azure Virtual Desktop, you'll need user access rights:

License entitlement: There is no additional cost if you have an eligible Windows, Microsoft 365, or Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Client Access License (CAL).

A virtual machine with Windows 10/11 VMs require that you bring your own cloud compatible license which come in two categories:

• Windows client: This is for dev/test scenarios (under which personal use would fall). Windows 10 is available as a benefit of specific Visual Studio subscriptions.
• Windows: This is for production environments and gives you access to Windows 11 and Windows 10 through primarily enterprise licenses.

I realize that this is a confusing topic and with updates to Visual Studio subscription costs it's increasingly difficult to give a simple answer. Still, this should give you all the information you need to determine what works best for your scenario. I hope this helps!

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Answer 2

Windows Virtual Desktop (now Azure Virtual Desktop) is primarily designed for enterprise and business use, not individual personal use.