AZ-900 Describe Azure architecture and services Practice Question
Which Azure service provides a way to run Windows-based desktop applications from any device without installing them locally?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse Azure Virtual Machines with Azure Virtual Desktop, not realizing that VMs are an IaaS building block requiring manual setup and licensing, whereas Azure Virtual Desktop is a managed service specifically designed for multi-user desktop virtualization with built-in scaling and identity integration.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Virtual Desktop
Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) is a desktop and app virtualization service that runs on Azure. It enables users to access full Windows desktops and applications from virtually any device (including non-Windows devices) without requiring local installation, as the applications execute on remote session hosts in Azure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Azure App Service
Why it's wrong here
Azure App Service is a fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering designed to host web applications, REST APIs, and mobile backends. It provides built-in auto-scaling, continuous deployment, and TLS/SSL support, but it does not stream full Windows desktop environments or individual Windows applications to end-user devices. App Service is for hosting server-side code and web content, not for delivering remote desktop or virtualized Windows experiences. Therefore, it cannot satisfy the requirement to provide employees with access to a Windows desktop and apps from a central cloud service.
- ✓
Azure Virtual Desktop
Why this is correct
Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) is the correct choice because it is Microsoft's dedicated desktop and app virtualization service, running on Azure. It delivers a full Windows desktop experience and remote applications to any device via the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) or a modern browser, using Windows 10/11 Enterprise multi-session or Windows Server. AVD provides centralized management, identity-based access through Azure AD, and built-in security features like conditional access, making it the only option here that natively matches the stated requirement for Windows desktops and applications.
- ✗
Azure Container Instances
Why it's wrong here
Azure Container Instances (ACI) is a serverless container service that runs Docker containers in the cloud without managing underlying virtual machines or orchestrators. Containers are lightweight, share the host OS, and are ideal for running microservices, batch jobs, or isolated server-side workloads, but they do not provide graphical Windows desktop environments or persistent user profiles. ACI does not deliver RDP-based access to a full desktop or per-user application streaming, and it is not a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution. Thus, ACI is unsuitable for providing employees with a Windows desktop and apps.
- ✗
Azure Virtual Machines
Why it's wrong here
Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) provide raw infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) compute capacity, where you deploy and manage a Windows OS image and configure networking, storage, and security yourself. While you could manually install RDP on a VM and use it as a remote desktop, this approach lacks the managed multi-session capabilities, centralized app publishing, and built-in scaling of Azure Virtual Desktop. AVD is a fully managed VDI service that runs on VMs under the hood, but it adds Windows multi-session, per-user app streaming, and simplified management. A standard VM is not a managed service for delivering Windows desktops and apps to a workforce, so it is incorrect here.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AZ-900 exam.