This year a lot of new features are developed and released in Azure RemoteApp. At the end of this year I want to summarize all the improvements which are released this year. The RDS Team is continuous improving the product by releasing new features and improvements each month. On the 11th of December 2014 Brad Anderson announced the GA of Azure RemoteApp. Since this date a lot of new features and improvements are added and this blogpost will summarize most of them. At the end of this blogpost I want to look into the roadmap of Azure RemoteApp for the coming months.
The following features and improvements were added:
March 2015:
- Ability to create a custom image from an Azure VM;
- PowerShell modules and SDK for Azure RemoteApp Management;
- Australia region now available;
- iOS client was updated to version 8.1.7 resolving third party keyboard issues and adding additional languages (8.1.8 was released today and changes some telemetry behavior);
- Android BETA client was updated to version 8.1.7 resolving issues with Android 4.0 and a few bugs;
- Windows Phone client was updated to version 8.1.9 resolving issues with some RD Gateways;
- Mac client was updated to version 8.0.15 resolving issues with <ALT> key and international keyboards;
- Fixed issue using non-US locales that would cause collection creation failures, read more;
- Two Azure RemoteApp site updates to accommodate all the changes on March 5th and 25th.
Full blogpost can be found here.
April 2015:
- Deploy Azure RemoteApp collection to your Azure Virtual Network (with support for Express Route);
- Ability to use platform gallery image in a Hybrid deployment;
- Microsoft Platform images and Azure RDSH gallery image were updated with April software updates for Windows Server 2012 R2;
- iOS client was updated to version to version 8.1.9 resolving issues on iOS 8.3;
- Android BETA client was updated to version 8.1.10 resolving issues Windows key not working on an external keyboard;
- Mac client was updated to version 8.0.16 resolving issues and improving performance with drive redirection when moving large files.
Full blogpost can be found here.
May 2015:
- We fixed an issue when publishing applications using path which showed a generic icon and now displays the proper application icon;
- Fixed issue when users are removed from Azure Active Directory prevents adding or removing users to same Azure RemoteApp collection;
- Microsoft Platform images and Azure RDSH gallery image were updated with May software updates for Windows Server 2012 R2;
- Android client was updated to version 8.1.17 with a new and improved user interface;
- iOS client was updated to version 8.1.10 improving the Azure RemoteApp sign-in experience.
Full blogpost can be found here.
Juni 2015:
- Added IP address range checking for Hybrid deployments using an existing VNET;
- Added limited public preview of Forced Tunneling. Forced tunneling ‘forces’ all internet bound traffic back to the customer’s on premise network through the VPN tunnel;
- Microsoft Platform images and Azure RDSH gallery image were updated with June software updates for Windows Server 2012 R2;
- Administrators can add their custom antivirus solution when creating custom images from the Azure gallery RDSH template image.
Full blogpost can be found here.
July 2015:
- Extended invite to all feedback supporters that voted to participate in a private preview for a new upcoming feature: Create a cloud collection that uses an existing virtual network (VNET). This feature lets you choose which virtual network (VNET) you want to use for your cloud deployment, instead of forcing you to create a new VNET for each collection;
- Learn about which ports and URLs that need to be configured on your virtual network (VNET) to ensure Azure RemoteApp Hybrid deployment works;
- Added “Support” tab to the Azure portal to make finding help and support resources such as forums and feedback easier.
Full blogpost can be found here.
August 2015:
- We went live with our #1 feature ask (over 1,000 votes) to add apps to the start menu for the Windows Azure RemoteApp client. Apps now show up in the application list, and you can pin them to the Start menu;
- Create a cloud deployment of Azure RemoteApp in an existing VNET. Applications such as QuickBooks, Microsoft Access, and other apps that might need to contact licensing servers or databases hosted on standard Azure VM’s are great examples of use cases that this new capability enables;
- We added a new template image to the Azure VM gallery that has Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus installed, it’s called “Windows Server Remote Desktop Session Host with Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus.” If you have an Office 365 ProPlus subscription, you can use this new image as a starting point for your custom image, speeding up your image creation. To get started, navigate to Azure VM gallery and look for the new image;
- Mac client was updated to version 8.0.19 fixing issue where application with modal windows might freeze the session.
Full blogpost can be found here.
September 2015:
- Infopath added to the Microsoft Office 365 template and gallery image;
- Windows client. was updated, includes end user feedback dialog (shown randomly to a subset of users) in order for user to provide connection specific feedback/response;
- iOS client was updated to version 8.1.13 which included fixes to improve error messaging for Azure RemoteApp, and an issue where ARA users credentials were expiring earlier than expected;
Full blogpost can be found here.
October 2015:
- Premium and Premium Plus are two new licensing plans released, they both have a 5 user minimum limit and address needs for higher computing resources;
- Learn about new purchasing plans for EMS and existing RDS CAL with Software Assurance customer, you might qualify to purchase Azure RemoteApp for as low as $2 per user per month;
- We have a new webpage https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/azure-remoteapp and includes a new Azure RemoteApp clients download webpage;
- Azure PowerShell v0.9.9 modules were released that allow the ability to enumerate list of users assigned to a particular Azure RemoteApp instance and reboot the instance;
- iOS client was updated to version 8.1.14 which included minor fixes for Azure RemoteApp;
- Mac client was updated to version 8.0.23 fixed an issue that caused the RD app to crash when using Azure RemoteApp. Important notice for users on 10.7 (Lion) and 10.8 (Mountain Lion): Our application won’t offer support for these distributions in November. You’ll need to update to a later OS version to make sure you can use a fully supported and regularly updated Remote Desktop client. This announcement has been as well part of our release notes in 8.0.22;
Full blogpost can be found here.
November 2015:
- We’ve had a lot of feedback about our two new premium plans and yes both come with a five user minimum;
- iOS and Android clients are now MAM enabled allowing them to be managed by Intune using Mobile Application Management, read more in our blog post Intune Mobile Application Management for Remote Desktop;
- Azure RemoteApp is now ISO 27001 certified;
- You can now Disable User Profile Disks (UPDs) in Azure RemoteApp;
- Azure gallery and Azure RemoteApp images were updated with the latest Windows security updates;
- iOS client was updated to version 8.1.15 which includes Intune MAM support, as well as fixes for Azure RemoteApp users who could not sign out easily.
- Android client was updated to include Intune MAM support;
Full blogpost can be found here.
Based on the above list a lot of improvements are made to the product and the RDS team will continue to invest in Azure RemoteApp and some great features and improvements are on the roadmap. The following list of features are on the roadmap:
January – March 2016:
- Azure Remote App available in both the Azure classic portal and Azure portal;
- Windows 10 Universal Application for Azure RemoteApp Preview;
- Ability to publish individual applications to specific users – Public Preview;
- Windows client redistributable MSI package;
- HTML5-based client for Azure RemoteApp.
April – June 2016:
- Azure Resource Manager (ARM) support;
- Cloud Solution Provider (CSP);
- Availability in India region.
Full roadmap documentation article can be found here.
As you can see we can expect some great and nice improvements to Azure RemoteApp. At this moment no Windows Server 2016 features/improvements are mentioned on the roadmap. When we come closer to the Windows Server 2016 release data probably more information about Windows Server 2016 and Azure RemoteApp will become available.