Microsoft has announced a preview version of its Remote Desktop app for its native mobile OS Windows Phone, but only for the unreleased WP 8.1 version.
Microsoft, the biggest software company, has taken the first step toward bringing the Remote Desktop app for Windows Phone users. The software giant launched the Android version of the app in March but there was no word on Windows Phone availability. Currently it only appears as a preview version and is compatible with Windows Phone 8.1. The biggest challenge here is that Microsoft is yet to officially roll out the latest mobile OS update.
Microsoft is simply testing out the Remote Desktop app with the preview build for Windows Phone users and choosing to go with a minimal group of users is the safest way. Although, Windows Phone 8.1 isn't officially available, users can still upgrade their WP devices to the latest OS alternatively.
Once the phone is upgraded to Windows Phone 8.1, users can download the new app and access home or work PC remotely. Other perks with the Windows Phone 8.1 is the much-hyped Cortana voice assistant, Action Center for notifications, Swipe-style Word Flow keyboard and more. But features added by Nokia will not be a part of the update.
"The Remote Desktop app provides a rich multi-touch experience with RDP and RemoteFX that supports Windows gestures," Microsoft said in an official blog post, Wednesday. "Users can get a rich Windows experience and be productive on their Windows Phone devices because the app uses RDP 8.1 and RemoteFX to provide high fidelity audio and graphics."
The mobile app connects to user's Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista machines. To remotely access the PC, users must need three things, PC's name, user name and password. Users can skip entering the login credentials every time by saving the details in the app. Connecting to a Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 PC will automatically enable touch mode, which means users can swipe, touch and use gestures on the phone or tablet running Windows Phone 8.1. In a Windows 7 PC, user's finger will act as a mouse and users can drag the curser by sliding the finger on the phone's screen.
Microsoft has promised to roll out a final version of the app that will support all Windows Phone devices sometime later this year. The app also lacks some important features such as Remote Desktop Gateway, RD Connection Broker, VPN support, and Remote Resources (RemoteApp and Desktop Connections).
Download the preview version of the Microsoft Remote Desktop for Windows Phone 8.1 for free. The app is also available forAndroid, iOS and Mac OS X.
