After completing the preview phase, Microsoft has announced that Windows 365 with advanced GPU licensing is now available for purchase by any organization.

What’s the difference compared to other Windows 365 editions?

Heavy workloads optimized for graphics cards such as graphic design, video processing, 3D imaging, and data processing bring us closer to the possibility of running any application we already use on our computers directly in the cloud. Have you ever imagined working with software like Adobe After Effects, Blender, Adobe Premiere Pro, or CAD?

What Windows 365 editions with GPU licensing are available?

They are divided into three different tiers: Standard, Super, and Max.

• Standard: Designed for applications that benefit from graphics acceleration on a 4K monitor or on two 1080p monitors. It features 4 vCPU, 16GB of RAM, 8GB of VRAM, and a 512GB hard drive.
• Super: Designed for more advanced graphics, allowing the use of up to four 4K monitors. It features 8 vCPU, 56GB of RAM, 12GB of VRAM, and 1TB of storage.
• Max: The top-tier edition allows you to work with the most advanced graphics processing tasks while maintaining excellent response times. It features 16 vCPU, 110GB of RAM, 16GB of VRAM, and 1TB of storage.

All models include an additional temporary data drive of either 176GB or 352GB, depending on the license.

Can I choose which graphics card I’m going to use?

Unfortunately, it is not currently possible to choose the graphics card model. However, depending on the license, you may have either an NVIDIA or AMD graphics card. For the Standard license, you may get either an NVIDIA or AMD graphics card, while the Super and Max licenses always come with an NVIDIA GPU.

Are GPU-enabled Frontline licenses available?

Así es. En este caso, pueden utilizar la misma licencia hasta tres usuarios, siempre que solo haya un usuario conectado a la vez. Puedes conocer más a fondo las licencias Frontline en este enlace de nuestro blog.

Do I get any other advantage by acquiring the GPU license?

The main advantage is the improved performance when using applications with heavy graphics. In terms of security, storage, and other features, it is exactly the same as any other Windows 365 edition.
Another important advantage is that you can also use the HEVC/H.265 codec when connecting to this cloud desktop in full-screen mode. This allows us to reduce the bandwidth consumed when transferring videos or improve video quality without using more bandwidth compared to the standard AVC/H.264 codec, which is used on non-GPU nodes.

What about the price?

Unfortunately, Microsoft has not made the pricing for Windows 365 GPU licenses public, so it’s necessary to check directly with your Microsoft sales contact. What we can say in advance is that the price will be considerably higher than that of Windows 365 licenses without GPU.

If you want to learn more, here’s a link to Microsoft’s official documentation.