Some features are supported on one type of Horizon Client but not on another.

When planning which display protocol and features to make available to your end users, use the following information to determine which client operating systems support the feature.

Table 1. Remote Desktop Features Supported Linux Clients
Feature Windows XP Desktop (View Agent 6.0.2 and earlier) Windows Vista Desktop (View Agent 6.0.2 and earlier) Windows 7 Desktop Windows 8.x Desktop Windows 10 Desktop Windows Server 2008/2012 R2 or Windows Server 2016 Desktop
USB redirection Limited Limited X X X X
Real-Time Audio-Video (RTAV) Limited Limited X X X X
Scanner redirection
Serial port redirection
RDP display protocol Limited Limited X X X X
PCoIP display protocol Limited Limited X X X X
VMware Blast display protocol X X X X
Persona Management
Wyse MMR Partner client systems only, and only with RDP Partner client systems only, and only with RDP
Windows Media MMR X X X
Location-based printing Limited Limited X X X X
Virtual printing Limited Limited X X X X
Smart cards Limited Limited X X X X
RSA SecurID or RADIUS Limited Limited X X X X
Single sign-on Limited Limited X X X X
Multiple monitors Limited Limited X X X X
Client Drive Redirection X X X X

Windows 10 desktops require View Agent 6.2 or later. Windows Server 2012 R2 desktops require View Agent 6.1 or later. Windows Server 2016 desktops require Horizon Agent 7.0.2 or later.

VMware Blast requires Horizon Agent 7.0 or later.

Important: View Agent 6.1 and later releases do not support Windows XP and Windows Vista desktops. View Agent 6.0.2 is the last View release that supports these guest operating systems. Customers who have an extended support agreement with Microsoft for Windows XP and Vista, and an extended support agreement with VMware for these guest operating systems, can deploy the View Agent 6.0.2 version of their Windows XP and Vista desktops with View Connection Server 6.1.

Feature Support for Session-Based Desktops on RDS Hosts

RDS hosts are server computers that have Windows Remote Desktop Services and View Agent or Horizon Agent installed. Multiple users can have desktop sessions on an RDS host simultaneously. An RDS host can be either a physical machine or a virtual machine.

Note: The following table contains rows only for the features that are supported. Where the text specifies a minimum version of View Agent, the text "and later" is meant to include Horizon Agent 7.0.x and later.
Table 2. Features Supported for RDS Hosts with View Agent 6.0.x or Later, or Horizon Agent 7.0.x or Later, Installed
Feature Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS Host Windows Server 2012 RDS Host Windows Server 2016 RDS Host
RSA SecurID or RADIUS X X Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
Smart card View Agent 6.1 and later View Agent 6.1 and later Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
Single sign-on X X Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
RDP display protocol (for desktop clients) X X Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
PCoIP display protocol X X Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
VMware Blast display protocol Horizon Agent 7.0 and later Horizon Agent 7.0 and later Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
HTML Access View Agent 6.0.2 and later (virtual machine only) View Agent 6.0.2 and later (virtual machine only) Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
Windows Media MMR View Agent 6.1.1 and later View Agent 6.1.1 and later Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
Client drive redirection View Agent 6.1.1 and later View Agent 6.1.1 and later Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
Virtual printing (for desktop clients) View Agent 6.0.1 and later (virtual machine only) View Agent 6.0.1 and later (virtual machine only) Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later (virtual machine only)
Location-based printing View Agent 6.0.1 and later (virtual machine only) View Agent 6.0.1 and later (virtual machine only) Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later (virtual machine only)
Multiple monitors (for desktop clients) X X Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
Unity Touch (for mobile and Chrome OS clients) X X Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later
Real-Time Audio-Video (RTAV) Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later Horizon Agent 7.0.2 and later

For information about which editions of each guest operating system are supported, or which service packs, see the "Supported Operating Systems for View Agent" topic in the View 5.x or 6.x installation documentation. See the "Supported Operating Systems for Horizon Agent" topic in the Horizon 7 installation documentation.

Limitations for Specific Features

Features that are supported on Windows desktops with Horizon Client for Linux have the following restrictions.

Table 3. Requirements for Specific Features
Feature Requirements
Real-Time Audio-Video
  • For client software from third-party vendors, this feature requires View 5.2 with Feature Pack 2 or later.
  • For Horizon Client from VMware, this feature requires View Agent 6.0.2 or later.

Requires the VMware Blast or PCoIP display protocol.

Virtual printing and location-based printing for Windows Server 2008 R2 desktops, RDS desktops (on virtual machine RDS hosts), and remote applications
  • For client software from third-party vendors, this feature requires Horizon 6.0.1 with View or later.
  • For Horizon Client from VMware, this feature requires View Agent 6.0.2 or later.

Requires the VMware Blast or PCoIP display protocol.

USB redirection
  • For client software from third-party vendors, this feature requires View 5.1 or later.
  • For Horizon Client from VMware, this feature requires View Agent 6.0.2 or later.

Requires the VMware Blast or PCoIP display protocol.

Smart cards For single-user virtual machine desktops, this feature requires View Agent 6.0.2 or later.

For session-based desktops provided by RDS hosts, this feature requires View Agent 6.1 or later.

Client drive redirection View Agent 6.1.1 or later.
Note: You can also use Horizon Client to securely access remote Windows-based applications, in addition to remote desktops. Selecting an application in Horizon Client opens a window for that application on the local client device, and the application looks and behaves as if it were locally installed.

You can use remote applications only if you are connected to Connection Server 6.0 or later. For information about which operating systems are supported for the RDS (Remote Desktop Sessions) host, which provides remote applications and session-based desktops, see "Supported Operating Systems for Horizon Agent" topic in the View 5.x or 6.x installation documentation. See the "Supported Operating Systems for Horizon Agent" topic in the Horizon 7 installation documentation.

Note: The features that are available for each thin client device are determined by the vendor and model and the configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. For information about the vendors and models for thin client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=vdm.

For descriptions of these features and their limitations, see the View Planning document.

Feature Support for Linux Desktops

Some Linux guest operating systems are supported if you have View Agent 6.1.1 or later. For a list of supported Linux operating systems and information about supported features, see Setting Up Horizon 6 for Linux Desktops, which is part of the Horizon 6, version 6.1 documentation.