Today’s update (version 844) of the Remote Desktop Preview client for Windows 10 adds support for both Windows 10 Mobile devices and Continuum for phone for compatible devices like the Lumia 950 or 950 XL. The client is still in development as we continue adding more key features including support for Azure RemoteApp. It’s been great seeing all the feedback and excitement for using this client on Windows 10 Mobile and on Continuum. This is a great time for you to make feature requests or report bugs and other issues you might have with the client as we prepare to come out of preview.
Read on to learn more about the changes we’ve made in this new update.
Connect from anywhere using your Windows 10 Mobile deviceOnce the update is available in the Store, you’ll be able to install it on your Windows 10 Mobile devices. Remote Desktop Preview is a Universal Windows App. The UI should be familiar if you’ve used our client on a Windows PC. We’ve adapted the UI to handle devices of all sizes. This means that you’ll now have the option to connect to a remote PC (optionally through a Remote Desktop Gateway), access Remote Resources (see below), manage a list of credentials and Gateways, and change global settings from your phone, PC, or tablet.
Figure 1: Connection Center where you can view and manage your desktopsFigure 2: Adding a desktop with advanced settings
Figure 3: Settings page where you can manage credentials and gateways
Figure 4: Connection to a remote PCNote that the main app UI can be used in either portrait or landscape modes. However, for now the in-session experience is limited to landscape mode when running on mobile devices. Expect to see support for portrait mode in-session in a future update.
Use your mobile device like a PC with Continuum so you can access any appsIf you own a Lumia 950 or 950XL, you can use the Remote Desktop Preview client on a larger monitor or TV with Continuum. Continuum enables you to connect a capable mobile device to any screen with the Microsoft Display Dock or a Miracast capable device, and power a PC-like experience on that screen. You can attach a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to your mobile device or a USB keyboard and mouse to the dock before connecting to a remote PC and using any apps (including Win32) that you have available in the remote session.
This is a great way to be productive from your mobile device when you can extend your work to an additional larger screen.
Access RemoteApp and desktops published by your adminOn top of connecting to a personal PC, we’ve also recently enabled the ability to connect to Remote Resources (aka RemoteApp and Desktop Connections) that have been published by your administrator. This allows you to access specific apps or full desktops based on what configuration your admin selected from anywhere while keeping the enterprise data safe in the datacenter.
Figure 5: Adding an item
Figure 6: Adding Remote Resources
Figure 7: RemoteApp programs on the Connection Center
Figure 8: WordPad running as a RemoteApp on Windows 10 MobileFigure 9: Switching between RemoteApp programs
Sending keyboard commands to the remote PCIf you are familiar with the Remote Desktop Connection client (mstsc.exe) on Windows desktop, you know about the option to send additional key combinations to the remote PC. These include pressing the Windows key, combos with Windows + <Key> (Example: Windows + X), Alt+Tab and Alt+F4.
This latest update enables similar functionality in the Windows 10 client and can be configured under Settings.
Figure 10: Keyboard commands options under settingsWhile this is really useful and helps make the experience more seamless, you may prefer to have these combinations remain local in some cases so 3 options are provided:
- My remote session when it’s in full screen (Default)
- Sends the keys to the remote PC only when running full screen
- My remote session when it’s in use
- Send the keys to the remote PC any time the client is in focus, even when windowed
- My local PC only
- Never send the keys to the remote PC
Note that the Remote Desktop client can only receive input while it is selected, no matter what option you chose above.
Try it todayI encourage you to download the Remote Desktop Preview client from the Windows store and try out the new features.
The Remote Desktop client is also available on your other devices running Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 8.1, iOS, Mac OS X, and Android.
We would love to hear your comments about this new capability. Are you excited about the ability to use Remote Desktop with Continuum?
Thank you!David Bélanger | Senior Program Manager | Remote Desktop team
