Following a previous announcement last week, Microsoft have made Azure RemoteApp generally available to consumers. Users can now purchase Azure RemoteApp , which comes backed with an Service Level Agreement (SLA) and with support offered from Microsoft Support. A five-minute hands-on demo of the service is available to those who wish to try before they buy.
The release supports all of the features from the preview, however it adds a number of important extras. Among these new capabilities is full support for Office365 ProPlus, new performance and scale options, and supports client apps for iOS, Mac, Android, and Windows, including Windows RT and Windows Phone. A fully-featured 30-day free trial is also available to existing Azure customers, who can begin by selecting the RemoteApp panel from the Azure portal and then creating their first collection.
Users can now switch between BASIC and STANDARD scale options, with the former intended for use with lighter tasks ie single productivity applications, while the latter is for more robust tasks and operations, such as using Office and other knowledge related work. This allows users to adapt to different use case scenarios easily, both scale options allow up to 50GBs of personal storage per user. Users can connect to Azure using a variety of devices, apps are available for phone, tablets and computers of different operating systems, allowing for a cohesive experience regardless of user operating system loyalties. The new service also introduces a new billing and pricing model, based on the number of users and their hours of usage, intended to be more transparent and affordable for the end administrator.
A full global release is expected further down the line, however those in the USA, North and West Europe, Brazil South and East Asia (including the South-East and Japan), can access it immediately.
Are you an Azure user? Will this offer you any significant benefits? Let us know in the comments below.
