Binary Royale Hosted Virtual Desktops Demo

Thanks for your interest in the Binary Royale Hosted desktop platform. This post shows you how to access the demonstration system which you can use to get an idea of how a remote virtual desktop will work with your current IT environment. Virtual Desktops for businesses are the future.

Click here to request a username/password to our demo system

In order to connect to your virtual desktop, you need to install a small piece of client software – the VMWare Horizon View Client – on your computer. VMWare Horizon View Clients are available for Windows, Mac, iPad, Linux (Debian/Ubuntu) and Android. If you have a device that runs any of these operating systems, you should be able to use it to access a Binary Royale Hosted Virtual Desktop. Having said that, I will qualify it by saying that the Windows client is the most fully featured and ‘advanced’, and therefore will give you the best experience. The Mac and Linux clients are also very good, but lack a few of the bells and whistles of the Windows client. The iPad and android app are much newer, and can seem somewhat limited in comparison to their desktop counterparts. If you’re new to hosted desktops, I’d strongly suggest that you start with the Windows client to get to grips with process before trying to access it via one of the other platforms.

In this post, I will cover the installation of the Windows clients, as that is what the majority of people will be using, however if you are using another OS, and need some help getting the client installed, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at enquiries@binaryroyale.com

Obtaining the Client

If you’re using Microsoft Windows, and want the latest version of the client, follow the links below

The latest 32bit Windows client is available here
The latest 64bit Windows client is available here

If you’re using Ubuntu you can install the view client by typing

sudo apt-get install vmware-view-client

If you are using a different OS, see the main VMWare Horizon View Client page for links to the specific client for your OS.

Other various VMWare Horizon View clients are available free of charge either directly from the VMWare website or from the relevant App Store for your mobile device.

Installing the Windows Client

• Once you have downloaded the client installer, double click on it to run the installer. Press Next on the first screen:

• Read the licence agreement and check the box to agree with the terms, and press Next:

• On the Custom Setup page, leave the default options selected, and press Next:

• On the Default Server page, enter desktops.binaryroyale.com into the text box, and press Next:

• On the Enhanced Single Sign On page, untick both boxes, and press Next:

• On the Configure Shortcuts page, select where you would like the shortcuts to the VMWare View Client to be placed, and press Next:

• On the next page, press the Install button to install the VMWare View Client:

• On the final page, press Finish to complete the installation:

• You will need to restart your computer before you can use the new VMware View client.

Connecting to the Demonstration Desktop

Now that you have installed the VMWare View Clinet, and restarted your computer, you can connect to the Demonstration desktop, and start using it.

• Double click on the VMWare View Client on your desktop to start the client:

• In the VMWare View Client window that pops up, press the options button, and tick the box ‘Always connect to this server at startup’. Check that the server listed is desktops.binaryroyale.com, and press connect:

•  In the next window, enter the username and the password, you have been emailed and  press Login:

• In the next window, click on Binary Royale Hosted Desktop, and click connect:

• The VMWare View Client will now connect to the remote Hosted Desktop, which may take a minute or two, so please be patient. When it has connected, you will see the welcome screen with some details about the desktop. Press OK to proceed:

• You are now logged in to the Hosted Desktop.

You are free to use this machine to explore the available functionality. As a demonstration machine, this desktop is restricted to prevent abuse, and is configured to restore itself to it’s original state every time you log off. Obviously this will not be the case if you were to purchase a Hosted Desktop from Binary Royale – your documents and settings would be preserved between sessions as you would expect.

If you would like to speak to us about your requirements, please get in touch with Binary Royale at enquiries@binaryroyale.com, or call Jonathan/Andy on 01332 890 460 for more information.