Today, we’re excited to announce the tech preview of the new Microsoft Teams VDI optimization for Omnissa Horizon environments, bringing a modern, high-performance collaboration experience to customers running Teams in virtual desktops.
This milestone, achieved in close collaboration with our counterparts from Omnissa’s engineering team, marks the next step in Microsoft’s broader journey to deliver feature parity, reliability, and performance consistency between physical and virtual desktops, building on the architectural direction we first outlined in The future of Microsoft Teams in VDI.
A modern Teams experience for Omnissa customers
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure remains a critical deployment model for organizations that require centralized management, security, and scale. At the same time, collaboration workloads like audio, video, and screen sharing place unique demands on VDI environments.
With thew new optimization now in available in tech preview for Omnissa Horizon, customers can deliver a native-like Teams experience while continuing to benefit from the operational and security advantages of VDI.
This release brings Omnissa customers onto the same next generation optimization architecture already powering Teams across other supported VDI platforms.
What’s new with Teams optimization for Omnissa
The new optimization is built on a re-architected media foundation, designed specifically to remove longstanding limitations of the (now) legacy WebRTC based optimization.
For IT admins and VDI architects, this means faster access to new Teams features, fewer image rebuilds, and more predictable quality for meetings.
Key benefits include:
- New media engine
Teams now uses the same native media engine in VDI that powers the modern Teams desktop client, enabling faster innovation and improved feature parity. - Improved performance and stability
Faster join times, fewer call drops, improved success rates for meetings and screen sharing, and better handling of modern codecs. - Evergreen updates with reduced admin overhead
The Horizon Client for Windows (version 8.17) bundles a new component called the Plugin (MsTeamsPluginOmnissa.dll) which oversees virtual channel establishment and subsequent media engine download. The media engine (a non-store MSIX package) is decoupled from the virtual desktop image and updated automatically by the Plugin, helping avoid version mismatches and reducing operational complexity for IT teams.
When you upgrade Teams in your golden image or Teams auto-updates in Persistent VDI environments, the Plugin will make sure there is a matching media engine version on the user’s device, silently installing it.
Plugins are designed to be backwards and forward compatible with media engine versions, reducing the need for constantly updating the Horizon Client.
From legacy optimization to a future-ready architecture
For many years, Teams in VDI relied on a WebRTC-based optimization model that depended heavily on components embedded in the Horizon Agent and Client infrastructure. While effective for its time, that approach introduced constraints around feature delivery, diagnostics, and long-term scalability.
The new optimization architecture addresses many of the limitations of earlier optimization models.
By modularizing and decoupling the media stack, Microsoft can now:
- Deliver new Teams features to VDI faster
- Reduce dependency on Horizon client update cycles
- Improve observability and reliability across environments
This architectural shift is foundational to the long-term roadmap for Teams in virtualized environments.
Availability and next steps
Microsoft Teams optimization for Omnissa Horizon is now in public tech preview for supported Windows endpoint configurations.
To get started:
- Read the main VDI article here
- Ensure your Omnissa Horizon client environment is updated to 8.17 or higher
- Microsoft Teams minimum version 26032.206.4355.6508
- Users must be part of the Public Preview – check this article to understand the policy in Teams Admin Center
- Monitor adoption and quality using existing Teams admin center and CQD diagnostic tools
For customers currently using legacy optimization, this release provides a clear path forward to a more modern, resilient, and feature rich Teams experience in VDI.
Looking ahead
This release is an important milestone, but it’s not the end of the journey.
We plan to GA this soon, and continue to invest with:
- Ongoing feature parity improvements
- Performance and reliability enhancements
- Expanded platform support aligned with customer demand
We look forward to partnering with Omnissa and our joint customers as we continue shaping the future of collaboration in virtualized environments.
Microsoft