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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
113
Ranking in other categories
User Virtualization (1st)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon 8 is 9.4%, down from 14.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 9.0%, down from 15.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

RashidAnwar - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Mihai Dinca - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use with good availability and reliability
The availability is very good. It's easy to use. New users especially find it very simple. You just connect and go. The solution is stable and reliable. You can combine the Remote Desktop Services with Citrix in some form, however, not with all of the features of both. It depends on the situation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its most valuable feature is the rapid and versatile access from clients operating on various Windows, Linux, and MacOS systems."
"It is easy to maintain."
"The solution is very user friendly."
"The benefits of this solution are that it is modern and it works perfectly well with the rest of the VMware environments we have. Having this vertical integration is what matters to us as an organization and this solution excels in this area. You deploy it and it works without much hassle."
"Users can log in from anywhere and from a variety of devices."
"I think the tool is very useful for attracting new people, either new hires or consultants. Remote usage is also a significant benefit. VMware Horizon's security features depend on the customer and what they want. Of course, if they have multi-factor authentication, VMware Horizon supports that. It depends on their policies, but it works with pretty much anything."
"The most valuable feature of VMware Horizon 7 is its ease of use."
"Great for desktop management, particularly when it comes to all the upgrades."
"I've had good experiences with Microsoft customer support."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is managing the remote desktop end user or remote server."
"You can scale the product."
"The most valuable feature of this solution at the moment is the HTML5 web client. You get a browser experience, not just the terminal sort of client, and the integration with Azure multi-factor application."
"The most valuable features are it is fast and cost-effective."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is the ability to remote into a system that is not on-premises."
"We use it to connect to the legacy system."
"The most valuable features are availability and security."
 

Cons

"We would like to see better performance with the product."
"VMware Horizon View has worked a lot to improve the solutions. There are some issues in the delivery of the applications, such as network problems. You can lose your connection at times."
"The customer service and support team could be better."
"In the next release, the performance, the speed, and the price need to be improved."
"Sometimes we had to force values so the end-user could continue working, which caused some information to get lost."
"The product fails to support Mac or Apple workstations."
"There are some licensing issues in VMware Horizon"
"There is room for improvement in support. The response time could be faster."
"We had some instability during the implementation process. This has since been resolved."
"The DB card needs improvement. I have a lot of experience with other competitors and Citrix is better than VMware and Microsoft. Citrix has more extensive features."
"Users have to re-enter their ID and password every time they log on, which is tedious and repetitive."
"I would like to be able to leverage it on other operating systems."
"For Microsoft, maybe bandwidth optimization is one of the areas that need improvement."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services needs to improve its security."
"We'd like more granular security control of the desktop services."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could improve by having graphical acceleration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"VMware Horizon only has one license, which is a license to run desktops."
"It is hard to know for sure. It is definitely in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. It is quite expensive, but you do save money on desktop power, desktop upgrades, etc. You're able to extend the useful life of your previous desktops. Previously, we used to change desktops regularly, and now we just change them when they break."
"The price of VMware Horizon 7 is more than some other solutions."
"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."
"The pricing depends on the use cases. It depends on the company's needs and budget. For us, it was okay, not too expensive."
"We pay a monthly licensing fee for VMware Horizon."
"The product is extremely expensive."
"We are happy with the price."
"I recall that you don't need to pay for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services because that's included in Windows."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. We're on the educational or academic license, and our terms are good. We're very happy with the pricing."
"The pricing could always be improved."
"It's not an expensive solution."
"I would say it's expensive as there similar products available for free."
"I think that Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is expensive compared to Login solution."
"We do not have to pay for the product."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services comes free as part of Microsoft Windows."
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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: December 2024.
824,052 professionals have used our research since 2012.