Remote Desktop Services

Remote Desktop Services
Other namesTerminal Services
Developer(s)Microsoft
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
Service nameTermService
TypeRemote desktop software
Websitedocs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/termserv/terminal-services-portal

Remote Desktop Services (RDS), known as Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 and earlier,[1] is one of the components of Microsoft Windows that allow a user to initiate and control an interactive session[2] on a remote computer or virtual machine over a network connection. RDS was first released in 1998 as Terminal Server in Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition, a stand-alone edition of Windows NT 4.0 Server that allowed users to log in remotely. Starting with Windows 2000, it was integrated under the name of Terminal Services as an optional component in the server editions of the Windows NT family of operating systems,[3] receiving updates and improvements with each version of Windows.[4] Terminal Services were then renamed to Remote Desktop Services with Windows Server 2008 R2[5] in 2009.

RDS is Microsoft's implementation of thin client architecture, where Windows software, and the entire desktop of the computer running RDS, are made accessible to any remote client machine that supports Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). User interfaces are displayed from the server onto the client system and input from the client system is transmitted to the server - where software execution takes place.[6] This is in contrast to application streaming systems, like Microsoft App-V, in which computer programs are streamed to the client on-demand and executed on the client machine.

RemoteFX was added to RDS as part of Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1.

  1. ^ "Windows Remote Desktop Services spotlight". Retrieved 2010-11-18.
  2. ^ QuinnRadich (19 August 2020). "Remote Desktop Sessions - Win32 apps". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  3. ^ "Remote Desktop Connection". PC World. IDG. 17 August 2011.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference features2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Russel, Charlie; Zacker, Craig (2009). "4: Remote Desktop Services and VDI: Centralizing Desktop and Application Management" (PDF). Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Technical Overview of Terminal Services in Windows Server 2003". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 2003-01-26. Retrieved 2007-07-23.