Plenty of people run a Windows server in the cloud for one reason: they want a desktop they can reach from anywhere. They browse the web, keep a few sites logged in, or work from a fixed IP address. A Windows Server license, billed every hour, is a lot to pay for that. Our new Ubuntu Desktop template does the same job with no Windows license on the bill.
What’s in the template
The template runs Ubuntu 26.04 with the Cinnamon desktop. Cinnamon will feel familiar if you’re coming from Windows. There’s a taskbar along the bottom and an application menu in the corner, and windows minimize and snap the way you expect.
Chrome, Firefox, and Edge come installed, so you can open a browser the first time you log in. If a site only works properly in one of them, you already have it.
Connect with the Remote Desktop client you already use
You connect over standard RDP, the same protocol you’d use for a Windows server. That means the Remote Desktop client built into Windows works, and so do Microsoft’s apps for macOS, iOS, and Android. Any other RDP client works too. Enter the VM’s IP address, sign in, and you’re at the desktop. If your team already connects to Windows servers this way, they won’t have to change a thing.
When to pick Ubuntu Desktop over Windows
Linux templates carry no license fee, so the invoice has no Windows license line. For a desktop that mostly runs a web browser, that makes Ubuntu Desktop cheaper than the same VM on Windows Server.
Windows is still the right call when you need Windows software, like Office desktop apps or a business program that only runs on Windows. For that, use a Windows Cloud VPS. If most of your day happens in a browser tab, though, Ubuntu Desktop covers it for less.
Get started
Choose Ubuntu 26.04 Desktop (Cinnamon) from the OS list when you create a VM, or reinstall an existing VM with it. The template is live now on every Cloud VPS.
