This guide provides information about installing, configuring, and using VMware Horizon® Client™ software on a Microsoft Windows client system. This guide is written for administrators and end users of Horizon Client for Windows.

Horizon Client communicates with a server, which acts as a broker between the client device and remote desktops and published applications. You enter credentials into Horizon Client, the server authenticates your credentials, and then the server finds the remote desktops and published applications that you are entitled to use.

Scope of This Guide

This guide provides instructions for installing, configuring, and using the Horizon Client for Microsoft Windows. This guide does not include instructions for installing the Microsoft Windows operating system on a client system.

Several VMware partners offer thin and zero client devices for Horizon 8 deployments. The features that are available for each thin or zero client device, and the operating systems supported, are determined by the vendor, the model, and the configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. Such details are not documented in this guide. For information about the vendors and models for thin and zero client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

How to Use This Guide

To get the help that you need from this guide, refer to the chapters that apply to your role and use case.

For administrators - If you are an administrator who needs to set up a Horizon 8 deployment that includes Microsoft Windows client systems, see the following chapters. These chapters are written for experienced system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and data center operations.

For end users and administrators - If you are an end user who needs to use Horizon Client to connect to remote desktops and applicatons and work in remote sessions, see the following chapters. These chapters also contain information relevant to Horizon adminstrators.