Support for M365 Apps (O365) on Windows 2022

Deleted - I totally agree that GUI is still required for a range of applications, especially where there is Server Side interfaces etc. But Microsoft is definitely pushing/recommending Core (Ironically, we had some fun with the recent Kerberos bug in secure environments as we could not login or remotely manage some Windows Core Servers - this issue was compounded as we could not get a Gui up to look at Event Viewer and could not remotely access the server for management etc - ie Core often increases resolution times in smaller environments).

The irony of this whole thread is that software vendors are pushing their applications into SaaS software models (as per O365/M365), which at least in theory means the need for RDS/VDI reduces as these become browser based. This is of course not a real world scenario as so many companies have legacy sunset / specialist software or secure use cases and they still need RDS/VDI to access it. Of course Microsoft may argue that Single User Windows 10/11 is now available to everyone at a lower cost point, especially with the recent CSP licensing changes - but this does not provide the flexibility and cost point for most customers that just want RDS (or its replacement).

From a commercial perspective the Evergreen Subscription model is great, but companies tend to work on fixed capital budgets with the option to reduce operational costs if things take a dive. Then they also have the option to sweat the asset for years afterwards. With Azure you are in reality required to take longer term 3yr reservations to get a similar cost point, but these would require renewing at end of term and are "officially" not cancellable. There are also the other issues whereby storage/disk/backup are not fixed pricing for the term and Microsoft has changing policies etc. Small to Medium businesses either embrace digital transformation, or want to stick to a traditional capex/opex model with certainty for the duration. ie they buy once and don't have to worry about it for 3-5 years.

I guess perhaps the question is (and perhaps the answer that we all need from Microsoft) is whether the RDS role is going to be deprecated in future Windows Server releases. Certainly, in Azure Virtual Desktop there is a push for users to run Multi Session Windows 10/11 rather than RDS (I also heard on the grapevine from a partner that Microsoft recently announced at a Partner conference that they will be deprecating RDS in AVD - but I have not validated this). The Microsoft answer to date is to use Azure or Azure HCI, which as you note also still includes the SAC release model - but I would expect most to see this lock-in as dangerously anti-competitive on the Cloud Provider and Hypervisor side of things.

You may sense I keep pushing for Windows Multi Session outside of Azure as it seems like a relatively simple approach to all of the challenges Microsoft and ourselves face.
Single Product set to Support, Zero Anti-Competitiveness concerns on the Windows, Cloud Provider and Hypervisor side of things, choice for users via Azure, On Premise or A.N.Other Cloud/Hypervisor, enables Microsoft to align the development of Windows and their support policies, and enables the onwards push towards GUI less Server etc etc.