You can optimize Windows for either foreground programs or background services by setting performance options. By default, Horizon 8 disables certain performance options for RDS hosts for all supported versions of Windows Server.

The following table shows the performance options that are disabled by Horizon 8.
Table 1. Performance Options Disabled by Horizon 8
Performance Options Disabled by Horizon 8
Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
Show shadows under mouse pointer
Show shadows under windows
Use drop shadow for icon labels on the desktop
Show windows contents while dragging

The five performance options that are disabled by Horizon 8 correspond to four Horizon 8 settings in the registry. The following table shows the Horizon 8 settings and their default registry values. The registry values are all located in the registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\VMware, Inc.\VMware VDM\Agent\Configuration. You can re-enable the performance options by setting one or more of the Horizon 8 registry values to false.

Table 2. Horizon 8 Settings Related to Windows Performance Options
Horizon 8 Setting Registry Value
Disable cursor shadow DisableMouseShadows
Disable full window drag DisableFullWindowDrag
Disable ListView shadow DisableListViewShadow
Disable Window Animation DisableWindowAnimation