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Amazon Jumps Into Desktop Virtualization With "WorkSpaces"

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the try-it-out dept.

mattydread23 writes "Amazon is getting into the desktop virtualization space. This is potentially huge news for providers like Citrix, but as writer Nancy Gohring points out, the company is starting small. Very small: 'The administrator console only allows managers to provision five WorkSpaces at a time. It's possible that will change when the service becomes generally available. For now, Amazon is accepting sign ups for a limited preview of the service. '"

7 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. No Linux client? by hawguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Their devices page says:

    Amazon WorkSpaces clients are available for both Windows and Mac computers as well as for the iPad, Kindle Fire, and Android tablets. When WorkSpaces are provisioned for users, they will get an email containing details on how they can download the clients. The WorkSpaces PC or Mac client provides users with full access to their desktop and includes support for multiple monitors, audio, and video.

    Linux support would make this more interesting so I could retask some old desktops and laptops with a linux thin client to let them access their Amazon virtual desktop. Though $50/month for a virtual desktop that includes MS Office seems a little expensive when a Dell desktop with Office Pro costs around $800 - 16 months worth of Amazon's pricing.

    1. Re:No Linux client? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      See IBM for that.

      Us old farts who saw the older farts scratching their heads over virtual desktops and wondering, "and this is different from dumb terminals or xwindows ... how gain?" and being thrown aside for not knowing the new technology.

      IT is worse than music - at least music will pay SOME homage to the previous artists.

      Next post, I'll describe how the entire "entrprenuerial" community in Silcon Valley are a bunch of rip-off artists.

    2. Re:No Linux client? by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Linux support would make this more interesting so I could...

      You know, this kind of thing has been tried pretty much since the mainframe was invented. After that it was timesharing, after that it was dumb terminals, after that it was thin clients, after that it was virtualization, after that it was cloud, after that... well, and here we are. Hi Amazon.

      Look, ever since Moses descended from the Mountain and brought with him two stone tables, 0 and 1, and said to us Thou Shalt Not Goto, and other things... people have been trying to get this off the ground. And it's always ended in failure because it's a bad idea.

      The fact that it's Amazon's turn to derp it up shouldn't get your hopes up... and neither should adding Linux support. Or MacOS, or anything else. It's technology that has died more times than the Daleks have in Doctor Who... and yet it stubbornly comes back in via another whack plot-twist... also, just like the Daleks.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    3. Re:No Linux client? by ahabswhale · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yeah, it's wildly overpriced for the value it provides. I'm generally fond of Amazon and I think Bezos is a genius but I think this idea is a real dud. Computers suitable for most office drones just aren't very expensive and any company that cares about employees being able to access desktops from remote locations already have VPNs setup.

      --
      Are agnostics skeptical of unicorns too?
  2. Re:Why? by nurb432 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Support.
    Portability.
    Accessibility.

    For starters.

    Just because you are wiling to use sub-par flea-market hardware, pirate the software, and deal with all the problems, does not mean a corporation wants to waste resources on stupid stuff too.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  3. Nothing New Under the Sun by ApplePy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I liked this better when it was called "mainframe".

    Now get off my lawn!

    It's funny. A friend of mine was trying to pitch this DaaS stuff to me a month ago as his great new genius business idea. I think my exact words were "if this is a good idea, Amazon or Google will beat us to it and sell it cheaper." Hell, even if it's not a good idea they'll kill us. And it's not. Nerds just have no concept of economics.

    There are good things to be said about vertical integration, economies of scale, etc., particularly when we're talking about the manufacture of automobiles or bulk steel or what have you. But I am a firm believer in decentralization whenever possible: local government, local foodsheds, solar power, local computing. The PC gave us that when I was a youngun'... and Big Iron has been trying to find a way to take it away ever since.

    --
    That I'm right, and you don't like it, doesn't mean I'm a troll.
  4. Re:so unbelievably stupid by neonmonk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    All nonsense. While I'm no fan of "desktop in the cloud" - anyone that uses RDP regularly knows that responsiveness is not that much of a problem anymore. As long as Amazon throws enough network & hardware resources at this it'll work fine. The real question is whether it's economical.