While it may seem like all these virtualization terms are just moving the word order around, there is a difference between a remote desktop environment and a virtual desktop infrastructure! Virtualizing desktops and application virtualization are generic computing terms for any technology that separates a desktop environment from the physical hardware used to access that desktop.

VDI is one popular type of desktop virtualization, but not all types of virtualization take advantage of host-based virtual machines like VDI does. Desktop virtualization can be used in other ways, such as remote desktop services (RDS)—where users connect to a shared desktop that runs on a remote server. So, when we say remote desktop, we’re really talking about a software or operating system feature that allows a computer’s desktop environment to be run remotely on one system while being displayed on a separate client device.