Best Virtual Workspaces

Kasm Workspaces delivers containerised virtual workspaces streamed directly to a web browser, from any device and any location. The container-based architecture is the defining choice: where traditional virtual desktop infrastructure provisions full virtual machines, Kasm streams containers, which is lighter to run and faster to spin up and destroy.

That difference has a security consequence as much as a performance one. A disposable containerised workspace can be created for a task and discarded afterwards, which suits browser isolation and untrusted content handling in a way a persistent desktop does not. Kasm Technologies describes its business plainly as building secure container-based virtual workspace technology.

Evaluation is unusually easy for infrastructure software. A live demo launches a working workspace inside the browser in seconds with no downloads and no setup, so a prospective buyer can see the actual product rather than a recorded walkthrough. For a category where proof of concept normally means days of provisioning, that is a significant difference.

The wider product family includes KasmVNC for securely accessing and controlling virtual desktops, and support for automating Kasm Workspaces using open-source infrastructure-as-code tools, so deployments can be version-controlled and reproduced rather than configured by hand. A partner programme covers integration, building, co-selling and OEM arrangements, with deal protection, co-sell support and services revenue for partners. Support covers setup, troubleshooting and security. Pricing is not published.

Windows 365 delivers Cloud PCs, giving users the full Windows experience streamed from Microsoft's cloud to whatever device they have. It differs from traditional virtual desktop infrastructure in one respect that matters most to IT teams: a Cloud PC is deployed and managed just as a physical PC is, so existing knowledge and tools carry over rather than requiring a separate VDI discipline.

That familiarity is the central argument. Organisations adopting virtual desktops have historically needed specialist skills and separate management infrastructure, and Windows 365 is positioned to avoid both. Microsoft is now marking five years of the product, so it is past the point of being an experiment.

Scaling is the clearest operational benefit. Capacity can be added on demand as business needs change without issuing new hardware, which suits seasonal workforces, contractors and rapid onboarding where procuring and shipping laptops is the bottleneck rather than the software.

Security is framed around Zero Trust principles, with Cloud PCs positioned to reduce risk, improve data protection and support compliance, which follows from data residing in the cloud rather than on a device that can be lost. Access works from Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices. Pricing is published, with a plan for small businesses that has no licensing prerequisites and supports up to 300 seats, alongside enterprise plans that do have prerequisites and are listed on Microsoft's compare plans page.