This chapter covers Azure Virtual Desktop, Azure's desktop and app virtualization service. AZ-900 tests this under objective 2.2, alongside other compute services.
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A simple way to picture Azure Virtual Desktop
Imagine a desk at work that stays exactly as you left it, no matter which building or computer you access it from — your open files, your layout, your apps, all waiting for you. Azure Virtual Desktop works like that: it delivers a full desktop and its applications from Azure to whatever device you're using, so the actual computing happens in the cloud, not on the device in front of you.
What Azure Virtual Desktop is
Azure Virtual Desktop is a desktop and application virtualization service that runs in Azure. Instead of installing an operating system and applications on a physical device, users connect to a virtual desktop (or individual virtual apps) hosted in Azure, streamed to whatever device they're using.
Why organizations use it
Common reasons include supporting remote or hybrid work without shipping physical hardware to every employee, giving contractors or temporary staff access to a controlled environment without provisioning a physical machine, and centralizing management of desktop images and updates rather than managing many individual physical devices.
How it differs from a standard Virtual Machine
A general-purpose Azure Virtual Machine (covered in its own chapter) is a single virtual computer you manage yourself. Azure Virtual Desktop specifically adds desktop virtualization capabilities on top of Azure's infrastructure — multi-session support (allowing more than one user to share a Windows virtual machine, a capability specific to this service), centralized management for many users' desktops, and integration with identity services for controlling who can access which desktop.
Devices and access
Because the actual computing runs in Azure, users can access their virtual desktop from a wide range of devices — including devices that wouldn't otherwise be powerful enough to run the applications directly — using a client application or a supported web browser.
Plan the desktop environment
Decide whether users need full desktops or just specific applications virtualized, and how many users will share underlying virtual machines.
Provision the host infrastructure
Virtual machines are provisioned in Azure to host the virtual desktops or apps.
Assign users
Users are assigned access to specific desktop or app groups, typically through Microsoft Entra ID.
Connect from any supported device
Users connect using a client application or supported browser, with the actual computing happening in Azure.
A company transitioning to remote work uses Azure Virtual Desktop so employees can access a fully configured, secure desktop from their personal devices, without the company needing to ship laptops preloaded with sensitive company software to every employee's home.
Objective 2.2 expects recognition of Azure Virtual Desktop as Azure's desktop/app virtualization service, distinct from a standard Virtual Machine.
A common wrong answer is treating Azure Virtual Desktop as identical to just running a Windows VM — it adds specific desktop-virtualization capabilities (like multi-session support) that a general-purpose VM doesn't provide on its own.
Stable terms: Azure Virtual Desktop, desktop virtualization. Memory trick: Azure Virtual Desktop = your desktop, delivered from Azure to any device.
Azure Virtual Desktop delivers a full desktop or individual applications from Azure to a user's device.
It supports centralized management and, uniquely, multi-session Windows for shared use by multiple users.
Common use cases include remote work support and controlled access for contractors or temporary staff.
Mistake
Azure Virtual Desktop is just a regular Virtual Machine with a different name.
Correct
It adds desktop-virtualization-specific capabilities on top of Azure VMs, including multi-session support for Windows, which a standard VM doesn't provide by default.
It's Azure's desktop and application virtualization service, delivering a full desktop or specific apps from Azure to a user's device, with the actual computing happening in the cloud.
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