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The Remote Desktop app for Windows is approaching its end; all hail the new Windows app. Microsoft announced on Monday that its older Remote Desktop client, which has already been phased out on other platforms, will not be supported on Windows after May 27, 2025. However, functionality remains unchanged. Supporting your parents with tech issues is still possible using either the built-in Windows functionality or the new Windows app, names that represent a curious blend of simplicity and confusion from Microsoft’s marketing team.
“Starting May 27, 2025, the Remote Desktop app for Windows from the Microsoft Store will no longer be supported or available for download and installation,” stated Microsoft’s Hilary Braun on its Windows IT Pro Blog. “Users must transition to Windows App to ensure continued access to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Microsoft Dev Box.”
Connections to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Microsoft Dev Box through the Remote Desktop app from the Microsoft Store will cease after its expiration date on May 27. Nonetheless, for other users, it will continue to function but without support.
Adding to potential confusion, Windows has a built-in Remote Desktop Connection app that will become the sole method for utilizing Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connections after May 27. Eventually, Microsoft plans to integrate this into the Windows app.
As Thurrot.com highlights, Microsoft cautioned that it would ultimately replace the Remote Desktop with the Windows app when the latter was introduced last fall. The new app even launched as an update to the Remote Desktop client on Apple’s App Store.
Regarding the distinctively-named Windows app, the company likely opted for this branding because it aims to transition Windows increasingly into the cloud. The Windows 365 service, introduced in 2021, allows users to stream a virtual version of the OS from any device. From this vantage point, calling the unified app used for accessing cloud and remote PCs the “Windows app” appears less bizarre.
However, a Reddit discussion from the Windows app’s September launch elicited some amusing reactions from Microsoft fans. “Microsoft needs to collect all the staff responsible for naming or renaming their products in the past 15 years and shoot them into the sun,” posted u/AlignedHurdle. Meanwhile, u/Shoddy_Eye7866 found an opportunity to employ the Xzibit meme: “Yo dawg, I heard you like Windows, so I took Windows App and put in your Windows so you can Windows while you Windows.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/microsoft-is-phasing-out-its-remote-desktop-app-in-may-211320714.html?src=rss
