Microsoft is ending support for Remote Desktop, requiring users to switch over to its new Windows app. From May 27, the Remote Desktop app will no longer be available for download and Microsoft recommends current users uninstall the app.
The replacement, the Windows app, launched in September last year and is designed to give users “unified access” to a range of formerly separate Windows services.
If you don’t know what Remote Desktop or the Windows app is — don’t worry, they’re only available to users with a work or school Microsoft account. The services these apps provide center around cloud PCs and virtual desktops that allow employees and students to work remotely.
Another app, named Remote Desktop Connection, is a separate service that ships inside Windows and allows users to connect to a Windows PC from afar. This app isn’t limited to school and work accounts and it won’t be going anywhere for now. The Microsoft documentation does hint, however, that support for this “connection type” will be added to the Windows app eventually.
Since the Remote Desktop Connection app is used by people with personal accounts, this could mean that the Windows app will support personal accounts in the future too. Or the company might just release a third app for personal users with an equally similar name and a bunch of different rules and restrictions — just to make things easier for everyone.
However it happens, Microsoft has a long-term ambition to move Windows over to the cloud, so expanded cloud PC and virtual PC features should eventually come to all users.
