Microsoft Remote Desktop Services Reviews

Our main use case for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is to allow multiple users to remotely access our Windows machine, desktop, or application over the internet and our network.

The best features Microsoft Remote Desktop Services offers include the ability to work remotely or use a virtual desktop, centralized application hosting, and securing access to a machine for internal service and call center or enterprise environments.

We rely mostly on remote work and virtual desktop functionality to access the office environment remotely, along with centralized application hosting to run heavy applications on servers while users access the lightweight Windows machine in a secured way.

Centralizing management and access has helped our team by improving productivity.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services can be improved in several areas. Currently, it requires a license cost, it has performance limits on shared resources with bottlenecks, the setup is complex, and it is not ideal for graphics-heavy applications.

I have been using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services for about one year.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is stable.

The scalability of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is good.

The customer support for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is good.

Using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, we are able to centralize the management of applications and desktops in one place, allowing multiple users to access the same machine. We can also implement gateway and encryption on that and integrate Active Directory.

The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that the pricing is based on licensing costs and the setup is complex.

What advice I would give to others looking into using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is to consider its features carefully. I would rate this product an 8.

Public Cloud

Microsoft Azure

My primary use case for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is for remote access to a work computer, which includes working from home and accessing a work computer or server management. It involves being able to remotely access the server and get to the console.

A valuable feature of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is its native integration with Microsoft platforms. It is enabled by default on any Windows product, which means it is not a third-party utility. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is available and installed by default for all Microsoft Windows products.

I think it does what it does well, so there is nothing that needs improvement. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is very utilitarian and suits my use cases perfectly.

I have had experience with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services for twenty-five years.

I rate Microsoft's customer service support a two out of ten. In general, Microsoft has poor support.

Positive

Depending on the use case and limited usage, I would rate the setup five to six out of ten. It can be somewhat complex in some cases, especially when used as an enterprise solution. Some configurations can be complex.

In limited use cases, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is free as it is defaulted by any Microsoft license. The paid version for enterprise requires RDS CALs, or client access licenses. These licenses are not cheap, as they add up in cost.

I would recommend Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, especially for general support. For accessing servers, it is an excellent solution. Overall, I rate the solution as a nine out of ten.

My current use case for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is connecting to services which are specific to a remote location because I am working from India. There are times that I need to connect to those services, so via Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, I access that system because I need to connect to VPN. Some services are specific to a particular location and shouldn't be accessed here, so I connect to that Remote Desktop to use it. It's mainly for support and management activities.

I find the ease of use of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services most valuable, as it allows me to have remote access and connect securely. Another valuable feature is file transfers, as it enables me to move files between local and remote machines efficiently.

The main benefits that Microsoft Remote Desktop Services provide to me include streamlining my working process, ensuring security, and offering flexibility to connect to virtual desktops and apps from multiple devices.

The only problem I see is that when I am connected, there is a certain lag because of the network.

I have been working with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services for five, six years.

For stability, I would rate the product an eight.

I would rate the scalability, or ability to expand, a seven.

Technical support from Microsoft is something I have never used, but I would give them a seven or eight.

Positive

I am not working with products such as Intune, Remote Desktop, or storage solutions such as Azure. Currently, I am using all the Microsoft tools that are available such as Office and Power BI. I have completed some certifications for Azure, but I am not an avid user of Azure. I am not sure if I bought Microsoft Remote Desktop Services on AWS Marketplace or directly from Microsoft because it is provided through my organization. I have experience with virtualization, but I haven't used the session virtualization feature of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services. I do not use the centralized application management function of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services or the centralized dashboard. The solution is cloud-based. I am using multi-factor authentication through Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, and I would rate it a nine. Overall, I rate Microsoft Remote Desktop Services an eight out of ten.

Public Cloud

Microsoft Azure

We use it primarily to provide virtual desktops to our end users, which allow them to access email, word processing, and other essential applications.

I like its familiarity. If you grew up Office environment, we use Outlook and software and everything, it's just familiar. Other than the initial login through the thin client, you don't even realize that you're on the virtual desktop. So it's just familiarity and ease of use.

It allows employees to log on to corporate resources remotely. But, we don't actually use the application publishing feature.

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.

Probably about five years in its current form.

I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

I've found it to be very scalable as long as took into consideration the number of users. If there is a sudden surge or drop of users, it might not scale as you like. 

If you plan for your expected user base, it is not a problem. I tend to over-engineer my servers, so I've never run into problems like resource limitations. It's been both scalable and reliable for me.

I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. My current setup is, again, about 10 to 15, but in my past life, I've deployed it for over 150 people.

The quality of the customer service and support depends upon what day of the week it is. They're very up and down with their support. Some days, I get really great support, and some days, it's not so great. So, on a scale of one to ten, I'd put them at a five.

It also depends upon what you're licensed for... I mean, if you're licensed for the top-level tier, which I was at my last job, the support was really great. But at this current job, we're not leveled at that level. So, I kind of know what's out there, and I'm left like the kid looking in the candy store with my nose against the window. And that's all because of budgeting and pricing. And I understand that.

Again, depending on who you get and what day you get them, you get great support. Or sometimes, if you get the summer intern, not so great support.

Neutral

I would rate my experience with the initial setup an eight out of ten, with ten being the easiest. You do have to have knowledge. You have to know how to apply your licenses, allocate your resources, set up your drives, and everything.

We've built around it, so it integrates very well.

Currently, it's just me, but in my past life, I had a team.

In my particular environment, dealing with classified networks, my biggest return on investment is being able to create a single image and deploy it multiple times rapidly. 

When the updates come in, I only have to deploy them once instead of having to walk around to each machine because we're using them as virtual desktops. To me, that's really valuable because if I had to walk around to everybody's machine to apply a patch, that would be extremely inefficient.

I've never had an issue with it. I've always thought the pricing for RDS was reasonable.

I would recommend it, but depending on the scale of your operation and what you have.

So, like, if you're a small shop, one to two administrators, maybe ten to fifteen users, I would absolutely recommend it. If you start getting outside of that, you might want to start looking at other things because there's just some... well, actually, with the new PowerShell tools and everything, you could probably support up to more than that. But, again, it depends upon your needs and what your environment is going to be. 

If you're going to be supporting thousands of people, I don't think I'd recommend it. But if you're just up to a hundred, I would recommend it.

Overall, I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

We have a lot of Microsoft services configured for different applications. We use the solution to access them.

Since the tool has a graphical user interface, it's easier for us to access the server. It's easier to connect to someone and explain it to them. It is easy to share and explain the features of the solution.

We face frequent disconnections.

I have been using the solution for the past 4 years.

The product is stable enough. I rate the stability an 8 out of 10.

We are quite a large organization with 14,000 employees. Almost everyone uses the product on a daily basis.

The support team takes a long time to get back to us. The team takes almost 2 days to respond to us. The wait time is longer than that of Azure and AWS’s support teams.

The tool is the only way for us to connect to the servers. I will recommend the tool to others. If an organization has a Microsoft ecosystem, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is the only out-of-the-box solution available. Installing anything else would be a hassle. Overall, I rate the solution an 8 out of 10.

On-premises

My company uses the capabilities of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services to connect with Windows from home.

I have never faced any issues working with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services. You can say that the tool has remote access functionalities that every system or network admin uses. In some case scenarios, we also get the end user to use Microsoft Remote Desktop Services. The tool is simple to use and simple to deploy.

Microsoft improves its UI experience in every upgrade.

In the past, my company had faced some issues related to the stability of the product. The product's stability can be improved.

I have been using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services for more than 10 years. I am an end-user of the tool.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an 8 out of 10.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an 8 out of 10.

The product's initial setup phase was easy.

I haven't done the product setup process for a long time.

For those who use Microsoft Azure service, the solution is deployed on the cloud model. If someone uses Windows Server, the solution can be deployed on an on-premises or a local cloud model.

Actually, there are many many other products that provide remote access capabilities. If we compare Microsoft Remote Desktop Services with the other products, I would recommend the virtual network console and maybe a communication application that can be used with Linux OS. If you start with Microsoft, Remote Desktop Services is a very good tool.

The remote work concept came into the picture after COVID-19. Before COVID-19, I was a network admin. Many people were using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services for remote access. In my company, if we are at home and want to check if all the backups are taken care of by automated operations and other related activities, we use Microsoft Remote Desktop Services to connect to the Windows Server.

My company uses many Microsoft products, like Office 365, Microsoft teams, MS Office, Excel and SharePoint. Every company uses Microsoft products. All the four companies I have worked at in the past use Microsoft.

I rate the tool an 8 out of 10.

I needed the solution to connect to a service. I need fixed IPs. When I'm working from home, I have a dynamic IP. One of our clients has opened a server with a fixed IP for us. We connect to the server using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services.

The solution makes remote work possible. It has made my life easier because I don't have to travel. I can use it from anywhere.

I did not face any problems with the product’s performance. It is stable. The solution is easy to use. The application publishing feature is simple. The tool establishes a simple funnel to the server.

The stability could be improved.

I have been using the solution for 1.5 years.

I rate the tool’s stability a 9 out of 10.

Scalability is not an issue.

The initial setup is easy. The deployment took 10 minutes. I can do the deployment myself. The deployment was not very hard because the tool is part of Windows. We need to set up some parameters with the remote server. They are quite simple steps. I received credentials from the server operator and used them as parameters during the setup. We can reach all the physical servers using the tool.

The tool enables me to work without traveling.

We do not have to pay for the product.

I don't know whether setting up a two-factor authentication in the product is possible. It is quite simple to access the remote server if the setup is done properly. Overall, I rate the product a 9 out of 10.

We use it for file repositories, project sharing with Teams, and most of our business intelligence work. We manage around 30 to 40 projects using these resources, mainly on SharePoint.

We use SharePoint here since we're a public university. We have access to all Microsoft platforms. Also, we use Google for email, but they're restricting access for public universities, so we're mostly migrating to Microsoft.

It works well and supports remote work. People can work from home and easily share information. The platform is robust enough for our needs.

We have research projects where students can connect to computers and remotely monitor long experiments, such as charging and recharging cycles of batteries. They don't need to be physically in the lab, which is a good benefit.

It integrates well with existing security and compliance measures

Teams component can be a bit cumbersome to use. It takes some time to get it working as expected, but it's fine once you get used to it.

It is used daily in my university. 

It's scalable enough for our needs and very reliable.

Customer service and support were available whenever we needed them. It was always there. We didn't had any issue. 

Positive

The initial setup is easy. It was easy to set up. 

I would recommend it. The core features are very effective, especially for running an organization with geographically distributed people.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

The solution is a remote desktop service to connect outside our company.

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is that it scales well.

I have been using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services for approximately eight years.

The reliability of the solution could improve.

We have approximately 60 to 400 people using the solution.

I rate the scalability of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services an eight out of ten.

We previously used VMware and switched to Microsoft Remote Desktop Services because the price was lower.

The initial setup of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services was done by our company.

We are going to discontinue the use of this solution within a few months.

The newer versions of the solutions work better than the older ones.

I rate Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a seven out of ten.

On-premises

I primarily use the solution as a remote desktop. I'm using it over a VPN and SSH too.

I like how it shows the user how you can do things as a help desk service. 

It's part of the Microsoft Operating system and is free. If comes with the larger Microsoft licensing.

It's so insecure, and it's so limited. It became more limited since we cannot use the administration tools. Nothing is really working at this moment. I'm using it over a VPN and SSH too.

I've tried Microsoft's user assistance, and it's limited. 

The administrative functionality is not enough for me. I don't want the user to see what I am doing. I don't want to reveal any authorization keys or passwords. I want to be in the background, managing the desktop and using the Remote Desktop Viewer while handling best practices.

I'd like a chat function so we can talk right there in the app. It would be better than picking up the phone and guiding the users.

I'd like stronger security. 

I'd like to lock the session and take over a session so the user can just watch what I am doing and not interfere.

While the setup looks simple, in the end, it is pretty complex. 

A big upgrade would be if they stepped back from the TCP RDP port they are using and design it after an SSH tunneling and use that port since a tunnel is between two devices, and it is a very secure way to connect. The added benefit is you would also have the possibility to share local and remote resources. 

I've used the solution for a long time. I've used the product for more than seven years. I've likely used it since Windows 7.

The stability is okay, depending on the internet connection. I'd rate it seven out of ten for its general level of stability. 

Basic remote services are not very scalable. I'm trying to use InTune instead, which seems to have more of the functionality I need. 

Right now, usage is limited, and we only have ten people on the solution. It's used mainly by people who are not always in the same location. 

User support is limited. They lack documentation. However, there is a learning center at Microsoft.com, which is pretty good. 

Positive

I've used Log Meln previously. It's a lot better, yet it is quite expensive. There's also TeamViewer, which is well known, and we've used it before. Once again, with the things I do, it is expensive. As a company, you need to pay a big fee. It's not ideal for small teams. 

The solution starts off simple in terms of deployment. However, it gets complex. You have to open locked ports, and that can make your network insecure. 

The pricing is great as it's free in the larger Microsoft system. It's integrated with the operating system. For me, the licensing is a five out of five in terms of useability and affordability.

I'm an end-user. 

The solution is used on-prem with VPN tunneling and SSH. With an Azure AD connection, we can use it on the cloud. 

It's not the best, as the users can always see what you are doing, which is not always ideal. I'd rate it six out of ten.

On-premises