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Horizon 8 vs Microsoft Remote Desktop Services comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Horizon 8
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
112
Ranking in other categories
User Virtualization (1st)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon 8 is 10.3%, down from 14.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 9.9%, down from 15.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

RashidAnwar - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 8, 2024
A product that offers an easy-to-use patch management option to users
The product supports remote work scenarios in our company, considering that we have different factory infrastructure devices, such as the remote operators in different areas of the plant, where it is used to access centralized applications from multiple types of devices, such as tablets, remote PCs, etc. The product facilitates virtual desktop management and deployment, which allows for centralized management. The tool allows our company to deploy multiple instances from one central repository simply. Security patches are much easier to deploy. The scalability part is also one of the advantages offered by the solution. The patch management is much easier, and access control of different devices is good in VMware Horizon View. The scalability or flexibility feature of VMware Horizon View enhances our company's IT operations by allowing us to use all the different security areas in the plant to be deployed and used in a few simple clicks. For production areas and warehousing zones, my company has created separate rules, after which we simply deploy from the central management and create clones of similar applications that are already designed during the first instance. I rate the user experience in terms of speed and reliability an eight out of ten. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. I rate the tool an eight out of ten.
BHARAT B  SHARMA - PeerSpot reviewer
May 25, 2022
Easy to set up and reliable, but needs an additional control panel
We've had issues with security breaches. The main problem is that if we are using this with the individual computer and using a remote desktop, there are some loopholes there. When I implemented this on an individual computer within two or three days it got captured. There is a problem with the printing and sharing of this program. There is a lot of customized software leaving the market due to this. If somebody wants to run a specific program with the specific settings, they don't want full access to the computer. Then there are some problems that have to be resolved. We'd like to have an additional control panel available in order o more easily give resources to the computers. There are a lot of restrictions and having a program panel would make things easier. It would help us set up the right access and permissions.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"One of the most interesting features in the enterprise version is the ability to do some support. There is a feature for remote control and debugging, which is something we didn't have before having Horizon 7 and the enterprise version."
"It is a stable product."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is secure remote access to resources."
"It is a very stable product."
"The solution simplifies our work."
"The solution is seamless and easy to use."
"It is stable and easily scalable."
"The embedded features of the solution are valuable."
"The performance meets our requirements and the stability is good."
"I give the stability a nine out of ten."
"The solution has very smooth connectivity and is very user friendly."
"The most valuable feature is ease of use."
"The initial setup is not that difficult. I have gone through the RDS initialization steps, which only seem easy."
"The most valuable feature is performance."
"Things can be made easier if someone is not with us or at a long distance since we can connect easily with those people. So, it's easy for us to use such features."
"The tool shares computer resources perfectly."
 

Cons

"I would like to see the VDP or other features for backing up the VMs."
"The most important feature that is missing is the ability to do some remote support on the client itself. For example, if somebody has a Horizon client installed on his machine, there should be a way to support his local machine as well. That's because most of the problems can't be solved very often due to the computer or the setup that someone is using on his personal machine. Because a Horizon client is already installed on the machine to access the environment, it would be nice if the client itself possessed some sort of remote control tool in it so that if needed, we could support both the virtual setup and the actual setup of the machine. It pretty much does everything well. It is mostly the support aspect that can be improved. You have perfect control over your in-house environment. You have a solution that can pretty much be used anywhere, but you have no control over the machine that's being used to access your environment. Definitely, that's where most of the features are lacking. There should be an option for remote control and maybe some options for conformity."
"The solution isn't quite mature yet. It needs more time to mature and to get more market recognition."
"It would be beneficial to see improvements in client-side functionalities, especially for some Linux clients."
"It would be beneficial if VMware invested in developing a robust reporting engine, providing insights into user activities, locations, and more."
"The solution is quite expensive. They should work to lower the costs if possible."
"There is room for improvement in support. The response time could be faster."
"There are some licensing issues in VMware Horizon"
"The only problems that you're going to have with the remote desktop are going to be firewall ports, security, and NLA, which is a net network level access control, or TLS transfer layer security or some other SSL-type of security."
"Teams component can be a bit cumbersome to use. It takes some time to get it working as expected."
"The user interface needs improvement."
"We've had issues with security breaches."
"We had some instability during the implementation process. This has since been resolved."
"There have been some network issues in the solution. So, when we used to connect it, the solution suddenly got disconnected. So the network part needs to be improved."
"We face frequent disconnections."
"I would like to see a web-based interface, instead of client installation to refresh the UI through HTML."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a three-year contract, for which we pay about ten euros per user per month."
"VMware Horizon View is an expensive product. My company needs to opt for a subscription-based pricing model when it comes to the licensing costs attached to the product."
"I would rate the pricing of VMware Horizon View a five out of ten. The price is average."
"VMware Horizon can be considered to be slightly expensive"
"The license cost has increased significantly, so we’re helping some customers with Azure VMware desktop solutions to save on licensing."
"VMware Horizon only has one license, which is a license to run desktops."
"Its cost is fair. You can go for a free trial, but for initializing a project, you need to purchase a license. There are different types of licenses."
"VMware Horizon's costs are high."
"It will probably cost about $500 USD to get the resources set up in the cloud."
"The cost is fair."
"The tool's pricing is high in the Slovenian market. I rate it a nine out of ten."
"The price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is reasonable."
"It's not an expensive solution."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services comes free as part of Microsoft Windows."
"The cost of the solution is low."
"We do not have to pay for the product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does VMware Workspace One compare with VMware Horizon 7?
VMware Workspace One has a powerful set of helpful features. The solution offers very good documentation, the initial setup is easy, and the product is very stable and reliable. I think the fact th...
What do you like most about VMware Horizon 7?
VMware offers a friendly environment, and it's easy to provide the user with the package. It is a bundled solution that is readily deployable. The advantage lies in its simplicity, it requires mini...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon 7?
We paid a lot of money for software that is not really fully operational out of the box. We had to have patches from VMware to get it into production. Hence, we lost a lot of time implementing the ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
I've never had an issue with it. I've always thought the pricing for RDS was reasonable.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
The current process I have to go through to get a Windows 11 VM up and running is difficult. Windows 10 worked a whole lot better than Windows 11.
 

Also Known As

VMware Horizon, VMware Horizon View, Mware Dynamic Environment Manager
Remote Desktop Services, MS Remote Desktop Services
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

LCMC Health
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon 8 vs. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
815,690 professionals have used our research since 2012.