New – Web Access for Amazon WorkSpaces

We launched WorkSpaces in late 2013 (Amazon WorkSpaces – Desktop Computing in the Cloud) and have been adding new features at a rapid clip. Here are some highlights from 2016:

• November 2016 – WorkSpaces adds GPU-Powered Graphics Bundles.


• October 2016 – WorkSpaces becomes available in the EU (Frankfurt) Region.


• August 2016 – WorkSpaces offers hourly pricing for all WorkSpaces bundles & AWS Marketplace for Desktop Apps in the Asia Pacific (Singapore) Region.


• July 2016 – WorkSpaces allows you to bring your own Windows 10 desktop licenses.


• June 2016 – WorkSpaces now come with larger root volumes.


• May 2016 – WorkSpaces support tagging.


• April 2016 – AWS Marketplace for Desktop Apps in the EU (Ireland) Region.


• February 2016 – WorkSpaces Application Manager now available in the Asia Pacific (Sydney) and Asia Pacific (Singapore) Regions.


• January 2016 – Support for audio-in, high-DPI devices, and saved registrations.

Today we are adding to this list with the addition of Amazon WorkSpaces Web Access. You can now access your WorkSpace from recent versions of Chrome or Firefox running on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. You can now be productive on heavily restricted networks and in situations where installing a WorkSpaces client is not an option. You don't have to download or install anything, and you can use this from a public computer without leaving any private or cached data behind.

To use Amazon WorkSpaces Web Access, simply visit the registration page using a supported browser and enter the registration code for your WorkSpace:

Then log in with your user name and password:

And here you go (yes, this is IE and Firefox running on WorkSpaces, displayed in Chrome):

This feature is available for all new WorkSpaces that are running the Value, Standard, or Performance bundles or their Plus counterparts. You can access it at no additional charge after your administrator enables it:

Existing WorkSpaces must be rebuilt and custom images must be refreshed in order to take advantage of Web Access.

- Jeff;