VMware Horizon 2012 Released with New Features

As many know, VMware has moved to a differet system for naming new VMware Horizon releases with the not so distant VMware Horizon 2006 release. This was essentially Horizon 8, however the new number scheme is the way of the future with new VMware Horizon releases. VMware has now released VMware Horizon 2012, following the same nomenclature. This post will look at VMware Horizon 2012 released with new features and see what the new version of VMware Horizon has to offer.

VMware Horizon 2012 Released with New Features

There are many new enhancements and features to speak of in the VMware Horizon 2012 release. These are documented in the official release notes for VMware Horizon 2012. Updates have been included in the following areas:

• Horizon Connection Server
• Horizon Agent
• Horizon Agent for Linux
• Horizon GPO Bundle
• Horizon Client

VMware Horizon 2012 Released with New Features

Let’s take a look at the new features for this release in more detail.

Horizon Connection Server

There are several areas of new features in the Horizon Connection Server. These include the following:

• Cloud Pod Architecture
• Published Desktops and Applications
• Virtual Desktops
• Horizon Console
• Event Database

Cloud Pod Architecture

Global desktop entitlements can select show machine alias name and this displays the machine alias name instead of the machine host name. This is also a configurable option for instant-clone and manual desktop pools.

Published Desktops and Applications

• You can now enable or disable an application pool in the Horizon Console
• You can now also select a VDS 7.0 vSphere Distributed Switch when created automated instant-clone farms

Virtual Desktops

• The remote machine’s power policy is configurable when creating a dedicated instant-clone desktop pool
• VDS 7.0 can be selected as ephemeral port with instant clones
• VMware Update Manager (VUM) can now update ESXi hosts that are serving as the hosts for instant-clones

Horizon Console

• It is now a configurable option to set the session timeout for the Horizon Console
• There is a new setting Accept logon as current user which allows the Connection Server to accept the credential information passed by users when they select Log in as current user.
• You can collect log bundles
• Filter All option removed from the Horizon Console

Event Database

There have been additional columns added in the event database. DML update scripts can populate data in the additional columns.

Horizon Agent

Quite a few items to list here, including:

• Drag and drop file operations including copy and paste is no longer dependent on client drive redirection being enabled.
• Enhancements to serial port redirection and scanner redirection
• Microsoft Teams media optimization
• Log level enhancements
• Internationationalization enhancements
• You can use Microsoft Edge for Chromium browser with URL Content Redirection on a Mac

Horizon Agent for Linux

Operating system support added:

• Ubuntu 20.04
• RHEL Workstation 7.9 and 8.3
• RHEL Server 7.8, 7.9, 8.2, and 8.3
• CentOS 8.3
• SUSE Desktop 15 SP1 and 15 SP2
• SUSE Server 15 SP1 and 15 SP2

Configurable X Display Numbers

• Two new configuration options added

Display Scaling

• Allows Linux remote desktops and published appolications to be displayed using a scale factor

DPI Synchronization

• Ensures the DPI setting in a Linux remote session changes to match the DPI setting of the client system

Support for Unicode Input

• Allows Horizon Agent for Linux to process and display Unicode keyboard input

Enhancements for Session Collaboration

• Remembers names of users invited to join session

Optimized Window Resizing for published applications

• New performance enhancements with this

Horizon GPO Bundle

New settings including:

• Do no redirect client printers
• Do not change default printer
• Printer Name for RDSH Agents
• Connect all ports automatically
• Exclude Automatically Connection Device Family and Exclude Automatically Connection Vid/Pid Device
• Include HID Optimization Vid/Pid Device
• All NTLM Fallback
• Idle Time Until Disconnect (VDI)
• DPI Synchronization Per Monitor
• DPI Synchronization Per Connection
• Allow user to skip Horizon Client update, Automatically check for updates, and Update message pop-up
• Include Outlook-formatted URL in clipboard text

Horizon Client 2012

The following is official documentation from the Horizon Client 2012 release notes. New features included with Horizon Client 2012:

• Using encrypted USB thumb drives with the client drive redirection feature
• Generating log files for remote desktop features – You can set log levels and generate log files in a Data Collection Tool (DCT) bundle for remote desktop features.
• Customizing the USB forwarding list – You can use the Exclude Automatically Connection Device Family and Exclude Automatically Connection Vid/Pid Device client or agent group policy settings to filter the USB devices that are forwarded automatically. This feature requires Horizon Agent 2012.
• Copying and pasting files and folders – You can copy and paste files and folders between the client system and remote desktops and published applications.
• Client drive redirection dependency changes – The drag and drop, file association, and file copy and paste features are no longer dependent on the client drive redirection feature being enabled.
• DPI synchronization enhancements – The client’s per-monitor DPI setting is synchronized to the agent and changes take effect immediately during a remote session by default. This feature is controlled by the DPI Synchronization Per Monitor agent group policy setting. This feature requires Horizon Agent 2012. Horizon Client for Windows 2012 does not support the DPI Synchronization Per Connection feature in earlier Horizon Agent releases.
• Customizing the Horizon Client for Windows online update feature – You can use the Allow user to skip Horizon Client update, Automatically check for updates, and Update message pop-up group policy settings to customize the Horizon Client for Windows online update feature.
• Setting a preferred speaker – If you have multiple speakers on your client system, you can specify which speaker is preferred in a remote desktop. This feature requires Horizon Agent 2012.
• Windows 10 2009 support – You can install Horizon Client for Windows on a Windows 10 2009 client system.

Wrapping Up

The new VMware Horizon 2012 Released with new features including enhancements to Horizon Connection Server, Horizon Client, and Agents includes many worthy new features to warrant upgrading. Be sure to check out the official release notes here:

• Release Notes for VMware Horizon Version 2012