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Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Microsoft Virtual Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.8
Citrix DaaS offers varied ROI, enhances efficiency, flexibility, data protection, and supports continuity, with unquantified access and productivity benefits.
Sentiment score
6.7
Microsoft Virtual Server provides significant savings and immediate returns with its pay-as-you-go model, enhancing financial outcomes for users.
We can save 50% compared to on-premises infrastructure.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Customer service is praised for responsiveness, but technical support quality varies, especially needing improvement in first-level interactions.
Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Virtual Server support is efficient and quick, but users have mixed ratings due to recent connection issues and costs.
The best support I have received is from Ireland, Dublin.
Technical Lead on Virtual Desktop at Orange
The first level often wastes time because I usually have to escalate to an engineer for proper support.
Pre-Sales at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Citrix support is better than Microsoft support.
IT Technical Advisor Specialist at Intact
We must pay for advanced technical support, and sometimes it is expensive.
Department Manager, Certification Project Management at Institute for Information Industry
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Citrix DaaS enables scalable, adaptable deployments for thousands of users, overcoming diagnostic challenges with strategic planning and regular updates.
Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Virtual Server is scalable and flexible, supporting diverse needs with scalability ratings between seven and ten.
The platform can scale to very large numbers.
Technical Lead on Virtual Desktop at Orange
It supports over 100 apps and 20,000 users in our organization, demonstrating impressive scalability.
IT Technical Advisor Specialist at Intact
Citrix DaaS offers vast scalability options as workloads can be deployed across multiple data centers like Azure, Google, or AWS.
Pre-Sales at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Scalability, flexibility, and performance are key factors, indicating no significant limitations.
Senior Engineer Identity and Access at a government with 201-500 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Citrix DaaS is reliable and efficient, with improvements enhancing stability and scalability, despite occasional network-related stability issues.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Virtual Server is stable, rated 7-9, reliable for workloads, yet occasionally requires restarts and feature adaptation.
The fact that it is scalable makes it easy to adapt to new business directions and adopt other software.
Technical Lead on Virtual Desktop at Orange
Citrix DaaS allows for satisfactory stability by facilitating workload deployment in various data centers including Azure, Google, or AWS.
Pre-Sales at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
There are a few features like user search, binary search, and LDAP search that have been well-implemented and are user-friendly, aiding many administrators.
Senior Engineer Identity and Access at a government with 201-500 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Citrix DaaS has configuration complexities, high costs, and integration challenges, with users seeking better performance, usability, and scalability.
Microsoft Virtual Server needs performance, pricing, security, compatibility, and support enhancements to improve usability, scalability, and efficiency.
Creating App-V applications is not an easy task and could take from hours to weeks without success.
IT Technical Advisor Specialist at Intact
Citrix should have different pricing based on company size.
Pre-Sales at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
This makes it challenging to remain with them, and it becomes necessary to explore alternatives to achieve the same performance with less expense.
Technical Lead on Virtual Desktop at Orange
Introducing a .NET experience with a drag-and-drop feature would enhance ease of report formation and monitoring tools.
Senior Engineer Identity and Access at a government with 201-500 employees
If something were available automatically instead of updating manually, that would be beneficial.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Citrix DaaS is costly, especially with added Microsoft licensing, though offers comprehensive features and negotiable pricing options.
Microsoft Virtual Server pricing is debated, with some finding it costly despite optional plans and others recommending cost reductions.
Citrix DaaS is considered expensive, especially for companies that do not require multi-cloud.
Pre-Sales at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
 

Valuable Features

Citrix DaaS provides scalable, secure remote access with low bandwidth, centralized management, and multi-device compatibility for seamless user experience.
Microsoft Virtual Server offers scalability, reliability, integration, and efficiency, appealing to businesses with virtualization, security, and management needs.
The scalability of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is impressive, supporting over 100 apps and a user base of 20,000 within our organization.
IT Technical Advisor Specialist at Intact
With Citrix, all connections are outgoing, minimizing firewall vulnerability.
Pre-Sales at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Multi-factor authentication has helped secure applications because users typically have two-way authentication software on their phones.
Technical Lead on Virtual Desktop at Orange
The data is safe, easily accessible, fast, and scalable.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft Virtual Server also handles a large number of users effectively, which benefits my organization.
Senior Engineer Identity and Access at a government with 201-500 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...
Ranking in Application Virtualization
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
128
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (4th), Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (2nd), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (1st)
Microsoft Virtual Server
Ranking in Application Virtualization
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Virtualization category, the mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 22.1%, down from 27.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Virtual Server is 6.0%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Virtualization Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)22.1%
Microsoft Virtual Server6.0%
Other71.9%
Application Virtualization
 

Featured Reviews

SN
Technical Lead on Virtual Desktop at Orange
Has delivered consistent desktop experiences across remote locations and has supported multimedia workloads efficiently
I have utilized the HDX protocol for compression and audio-video capabilities. When users need to conduct meetings with customers or colleagues, they can use Teams solutions and open a bridge where video and audio are encapsulated within the ICA protocol, which is protected by SSL and certificates for security. This provides secure communication at good quality through the HDX protocol. HDX protocol has improved application performance as it is specifically designed for multimedia applications. If processing audio or video files, such as in telecom where discussions are recorded and then prepared as video or audio, this does not consume excessive bandwidth during the operation compared to a normal remote desktop connection provided by Microsoft. Everything is compressed and provides sufficient bandwidth for multiple people to perform similar tasks without interruption or session disconnection. All multimedia-related activities, such as playing content on YouTube, deliver a better experience with this protocol overall. I use multi-factor authentication for opening sessions to the data center where users access their machines or software. Multi-factor authentication has helped secure applications because users typically have two-way authentication software on their phones. They use a password first and then authenticate themselves through their mobile application to grant access to resources. This approach is effective because if a hacker attacks a user, they need more than just the password and username. They must also possess the device that provides authentication. The device typically has facial recognition, a password, and provides better security overall.
UdaySiddu - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Virtual machines have improved cost savings and now provide safe, fast, snapshot-based recovery
Virtual Servers are valuable to us. We have been using Microsoft Virtual Server for the last five years. We use it for common applications and server applications. Microsoft Virtual Server machines are good compared to on-premises infrastructure. You can take a snapshot whenever we require it, and we can rebuild it. The data is safe, easily accessible, fast, and scalable. For snapshots, whenever we do any maintenance activity, the admin team takes snapshots. If there are any issues or upgrade problems, they revert back to the old one.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise69
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
My focus has primarily been on publishing virtual applications.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.
What needs improvement with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
I have found that Citrix DaaS is still a complex product, especially on the desktop side, which affects scalability. Although it works well on the apps side, the desktop aspect still has room for i...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Virtual Server?
I am not involved much in cost-related matters but heard from management that it is a better choice.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Virtual Server?
For improvements, sometimes users use service accounts to log into the server. Identifying the server owner or the virtual machine owner is a difficult task for admins. Manually, someone needs to u...
 

Also Known As

XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace
Virtual Server, MS Virtual Server
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Exelon, Aeronamic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alameda County Medical Center, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Aloysius Stichting, Amarchand Mangaldas, AmBev, Amnet Technology Solutions, Arval
Paylocity, ASELSAN, Sochi Organizing Committee, Supervisor of Elections, Orange County, Florida, Netgem, Nav Canada, The British & Irish Lions
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. Microsoft Virtual Server and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.