Windows 7: Microsofts' Personal Virtual Desktops

I am assuming it's similar to VMware view (without a few bells and whistles) anyone got any experience with using this ?



I am thinking about getting a virtualised test bed up and running.
wondered on others thoughts.

Hi there
I don't know about this MS application but in general you should note that there is a Difference between "Virtual Desktops" and "Virtual Machines".

Virtual DESKTOP software usually lets you have a larger screen / desktop area than the physical size or lets you like in most Linux systems have a number of concurrent desktops which you can switch between. You are running on your SINGLE PHYSICAL machine.

Virtual Machines however give you the option of running effectively a number of ENTIRE SEPARATE machines - all with their own hardware and applications. Note that the hardware won't be as extensive as real hardware but even so Virtual Machines are incredibly useful in all sorts of ways.

Cheers
jimbo

In the case of VMWare View, the virtual desktops are not the larger screen/desktop area variety...but rather a collection of servers that present the actual desktop computer (virtually) to the end user...who often has nothing more than a terminal on the desk which connects to this virtual environment. So, if you have an employee who needs to work from home, you can equip them with a terminal device rather than providing them with a laptop. Thus, if the terminal is ever stolen, there is no data on it whatsoever...so no lost corporate information.

eh?
neither of these answer the question.
I was asking whether anyone had experience of the Microsoft VDI technology 'personal virtual desktops'.

I don't have experience with it but here is a general guide on how to get it set up: Deploying Personal Virtual Desktops by Using Remote Desktop Web Access Step-by-Step Guide. It seems to mainly involve setting up Remote Desktop Services and Hyper-V along with Active Directory Domain Services of course. It should at least be a baseline for you to test or get an idea for what you're going.

It is similar in concept to VMware View but involves using Microsoft's tools and software.