Both Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop are Desktop as service that helps you with the opportunity to use the virtual desktop workspace for your professional or personal use.
In this Azure article, we will discuss what is the key differences between Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop.
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Windows 365 vs Azure Virtual Desktop
Though Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop look similar but there are some key differences between them and those we are going to point out here and that will definitely help you to decide if you want to go with Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop.
What is Windows 365?
Windows 365 is a Desktop as a service (Daas) from Microsoft that can help the user to connect the onshore or office desktop with their Laptops at home. It is an excellent Cloud PC (A well-optimized Virtual Machine with all the loaded services and with a rich Windows desktop experience) from Microsoft.
Features of Windows 365
Below is the list of key features of Windows 365.
- You will get two editions i.e Windows 365 Business and Windows 365 Enterprise in terms of pricing and features. So you will get the opportunity to decide the option that suits your requirement.
- Access to all the Microsoft 365 apps, and software with no limit.
- Collaboration becomes easier with the help of Microsoft 365.
What is Azure Virtual Desktop?
Azure Virtual Desktop is also a Desktop as a service (Daas) from Microsoft. You can also term it a virtualization service. Which is more scalable, Better for multi-session use, Compatible with many devices, and most importantly supports cross-platform.
Features of Azure Virtual Desktop
- More customizations are available as compared to Windows 365.
- With no gateway servers running, you can get a well-organized desktop virtualization environment.
- Highly scalable.
- Pay-as-you-go pricing model and a monthly per-user basis (Newly introduced model).
- Support for running different workloads simultaneously.
Key Differences between Azure virtual desktop vs Windows 365
Both Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop have many similarities in terms of their cloud architecture and other stuff but they also have some differences. Let’s do a tabular comparison between Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 and will point out the key differences between them.
| Windows 365 Business | Windows 365 Enterprise | Azure Virtual Desktop | |
| A fully managed service by Microsoft. | A fully managed service by Microsoft. | It is managed by the clients or customers. | |
| In terms of pricing, you need to pay a fixed amount per month basis. | In terms of pricing, you need to pay a fixed amount per month. | It is based on a Pay-as-you-go pricing model and a monthly per-user basis (Newly introduced model). | |
| It is quite difficult to take backup with respect to storage. | It is quite difficult to take backup with respect to storage. | Easy to take backup with respect to storage. | |
| The networking part is managed by Microsoft. | The networking part is managed by the user. | The networking part is managed by the user. | |
| No support for Remote Apps. | No support for Remote Apps. | Remote Apps are supported here. | |
| Auto-scaling is not supported. | Auto-scaling is not supported. | Auto-scaling is supported here. |
When to choose Azure virtual desktop vs Windows 365
- When you have the requirement for multi-session use, application virtualization, etc, you can go with Azure Virtual Desktop.
- Windows 365 Business is the option for small companies with up to 300 seats. When the requirement is to get ready-made Cloud PCs with fewer management options.
- Windows 365 Enterprise is an option for large companies with unlimited seats. If you want more management options and the option to create customized Cloud PCs.
You may also like following the below articles
- How to start with Azure Virtual Desktop
- Amazon Workspaces vs Azure Virtual Desktop
- How to Create Azure Free Account (Step by Step tutorial)
- How to enable Azure virtual machine encryption
- How to Create Azure VM (Virtual Machine)
- How to reset password in Azure virtual machine
- Azure virtual machine DNS (FQDN)
Wrapping Up
In this article, we discussed the key differences between Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop. Now, it’s your turn to decide you wish to go with Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365 based on your requirement. Thanks for reading this article !!!