Maybe no more supporting VM's

[gachowski]

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/virtual-desktop/

[Taylor_Armstron]

That's a bit of a "link and run" without much of an argument.

WHO is not supporting VM's?

What in that link makes you think this?

Article is talking about virtual desktops on Windows, specifically Windows 10 VDI infrastructure. Cool stuff, but what does this have to do with JAMF and Macs?

[gachowski]

For sure, I just wanted to start a discussion...

However I am 100% sure the cost saving on using macOS machines is lost and wasted the second you install a windows VM and that is not good for any organization using macOS. This translates to in my org we only support a very small and strict group of users who have a true approved business need.

I am sure that there are many orgs that provide and support windows VMs just for the standard MS apps, I know in my environment, that many users still think they need access to a VM for standard MS apps. Even just one more option for Project and Visio for macOS users is a big win...

I know this is a major improvement and change for mac admins and support staff, significant software cost saving, significant support cost savings, better user experience when a windows VM is really needed, and definitely more secure.

C

[Taylor_Armstron]

Thanks... just wasn't clear where you were headed with it initially. I mis-interpreted it as indicating that this was going to drive out Macs, not the opposite.

I agree with your assessment, but don't see much of an impact (at least in my environment) on Mac OS use. I'm sure I'll hear more about this in the next week or two - my boss is at Microsoft's Ignite conference where this is being announced. Truthfully, again for US, I'm not sure that it will be any sort of cost savings. We can't even touch it until it becomes FedRAMP certified, and after that, I'm not sure that our licensing covers it yet.

For Mac users, it COULD be some cost savings. We don't run VM's for any of our Mac users necessarily (although I run one for my Windows admin tools), but we use a Windows terminal server for a few apps. Most of our Mac users never touch a Windows box though. If this replaces our terminal server, I'm not going to complain at all. If this allows more businesses to adopt BYOD policies, definitely could be a big win, but don't underestimate the Azure storage and compute costs - those can add up FAST.