Amazon has announced a new feature for Amazon WorkSpaces called WorkSpaces Pools. This feature provides non-persistent virtual desktops across a group of users. Administrators can manage a portfolio of persistent and non-persistent desktops through a Graphic User Interface, command line, or API-powered tools.
With the feature, users will receive a fresh desktop based on the latest configuration each time they log in, ensuring a consistent experience, according to the company. It supports various use cases, including remote work, shared service centers, and educational settings. Moreover, Administrators can customize desktop configurations, control compute resources, and scale pools to match user needs, providing a flexible and tailored virtual desktop environment.
Jeff Barr, a Chief Evangelist for AWS, writes:
As the pool administrator, you have full control over the compute resources (bundle type) and the initial configuration of the pool's desktops, including the set of applications available to the users. In addition, you can configure the pool to accommodate the size and working hours of your user base, and you can optionally join the pool to your organization’s domain and active directory.
Application settings persistence to save application customizations and Windows settings on a per-user basis between sessions (Source: AWS News blog post)
In a Reddit thread, a question was raised about whether WorkSpace pools are the same as another AWS offering, AppStream 2.0, which is a fully-managed AWS End-User Computing (EUC) service designed to stream software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and convert desktop applications to SaaS without rewriting code or refactoring the application. A respondent commented:
Pools and AppStream 2.0 in desktop mode are the exact same thing. Biggest advantage is with pools, you can run M365 apps.
Barr wrote in the AWS news blog post:
You can use an existing custom WorkSpaces image, create a new one, or use one of the standard ones. You can also include Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise on the image.
Other Hyperscalers like Microsoft offer an equivalent service called Windows Virtual Desktop, which anyone can access anywhere. Yet there isn’t a direct equivalent product for the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). However, organizations can use various 3rd party products to configure Desktop-as-a-Service, such as itopia, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, and Nutanix Frame. These services can provide functionalities similar to those of Amazon WorkSpaces Pools.
WorkSpaces Pools is available in all commercial AWS Regions where WorkSpaces Personal is available, except Israel (Tel Aviv), Africa (Cape Town), and China (Ningxia). In addition, the pricing details of WorkSpaces Pools are available on the pricing page.